


The Effects of Faith

by ClueingForLooksintheTardis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, BAMF Rose Tyler, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-02-26 09:19:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2646623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClueingForLooksintheTardis/pseuds/ClueingForLooksintheTardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Tyler has found herself reliving her timeline with the Doctor and plans to use her second chance to prevent their separation. DoctorxRose</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**“The Effects of Faith.”**

They say that in the minutes just before you take your last breath the best moments of your life will flash before your eyes. Or is the things you regret? Some say it's your whole life, others say you get images of your loved ones, those you're leaving behind. Who knows for sure really? Unless a person dies then comes back to life and can remember every detail of the minutes before their final breath, all theories are just that really.

She could feel something pushing down on her, but she didn't know what or where she was. Everything was dark and her brain was foggy. She supposed she must be dying since all she could focus on was him. Appropriate really that his faces and voices would be the last she conjured up in her mind. That's if she was in fact, dying.  
  
 _A large hand clasping her smaller and a northern accent saying “Run!”_

 _“I'm so glad I met you.” “Me too.”_  
  
She could see them both perfectly in her mind; her Doctor with his leather jacket, abrasive nature, goofy smile and piercing blue stare. Her Doctor with his pinstripes and converse, manic energy concealing his inner turbulence, his still dorky smile, gravity-defying hair, and wide brown eyes that were a perfect representation of the phrase “The eyes are the windows to the soul.”  
  
 _“Better with two.”_

 _“Mutt and Jeff. Hope and Glory. Shiver and Shake.”_  
Briefly recalling in her mind how she had gotten to this moment, she felt a burst of vicious anger mixed with resignation. She'd had so much to live for. People counting on her to survive.  
  
 _“Am I ever gonna see you again?” “You can't.”_

_“I love you.” “Quite right too.”_

Though she supposed if she were to die, one thing she would be certain of is that he would never know. She wanted her Doctor to believe she was on the other side of the wall defending the earth, and that she was surviving, thriving even. She knew it must have hurt him deeply to lose her but she couldn't bear the thought of him actually having to mourn her.  
  
Eyes heavy and mind clouding, her heart stopped and she took her last breath as the brightest light in all the universes flashed beneath her gaze. Her eyes closed as the golden light surrounded her, encasing her whole being and warming her as she blacked out.

A wave of dizziness so strong she nearly felt knocked off her feet had Rose automatically reach out to grip the tile in front of her. She fought down the nausea building inside her and tightly shut her eyes, waiting for the vertigo to pass before she blinked her eyes open and found herself standing at a row of sinks. She looked up straight into a mirror and had to bite back a genuine screech.

Face unblemished and still carrying traces of baby fat, hair shorter and unmistakably still bleached blonde with the exception of the obvious roots. Eyes wide as Rose Tyler stared into the mirror at her nineteen year old face.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing on from the prologue.

**The Effects of Faith - Chapter One**

_A wave of dizziness so strong she nearly felt knocked off her feet had Rose automatically reach out to grip the tile in front of her. She fought down the nausea building inside her and tightly shut her eyes, waiting for the vertigo to pass before she blinked her eyes open and found herself standing at a row of sinks. She looked up straight into a mirror and had to bite back a genuine screech._

_Face unblemished and still carrying traces of baby fat, hair shorter and unmistakably still bleached blonde except for the obvious roots. Eyes wide as Rose Tyler stared into the mirror at her nineteen year old face._

Struck dumb with shock, Rose reached up to touch the side of her face. She couldn't tear her eyes away from her own reflection, because the girl looking back at her shouldn't be there. She'd been forgotten and left behind years ago as Rose got older. Rose knew she didn't look all that older at her current age, but the differences were unmistakable.

Jolting herself away, Rose stepped back, closing her eyes and lightly shaking her head, hoping to find the reflection she'd had yesterday staring back at her when she opened her eyes. She peeked and nope, still the same. Stepping back again, she got another jolt of surprise as she finally took notice of her surroundings, realizing she was in a bathroom. It was vaguely familiar, though Rose couldn't place it. She stood in front of a row of sinks, with a row of stalls behind her, a hand dryer to her right and the exit to her left. She was alone, and Rose looked down at herself to see that she was wearing baggy jeans, a grey shirt and a hoodie. She couldn't help the slight grimace; she had matured as far as her dress sense went and now tended to prefer darker colours mostly but mainly clothes that were easy to move in. And she knew for a fact that she hadn't worn this particular outfit in years, not since she'd first packed a bag of clothes for the Tardis.

Confused and wary, Rose stepped towards the door, peeking outside to see a restaurant. Not just any. She could see Mickey waiting for her at the table where they'd been interrupted by the Doctor and he'd put a cork in plastic Mickey's head.

Darting back as her breath hitched, Rose suddenly knew with a perfect clarity exactly where she was. Or at least, where she was dreaming she was. It couldn't be anything else surely. Rose's dreams tended to fluctuate between vivid and lucid, especially recently and the tangible realness she currently felt in her surroundings was not completely unlike the vividness in her dreams. She tried to keep this thought in her mind as her heart rate sped up and a wave of dizziness came over her.

This was the day she had helped the Doctor beat the Nestene Consciousness. She remembered now, how when she and plastic Mickey had gotten to the pizza restaurant, she had gone to the bathroom to freshen up and take a deep breath, trying to calm her racing thoughts. See, she'd been willing to assure Mickey that she was staying away from the Doctor and keeping out of trouble, but meeting that man Clive had just given her more questions, and she'd been more determined than before to find the Doctor again. Not that she'd have told Mickey that.

Yep, definitely a dream. Had to be. Trying to ignore her niggling intuition telling her otherwise, Rose inhaled sharply and tried to remember the last thing she was doing before she fell asleep but it was difficult. It was as if her brain went sluggish and blurred her memory until it hurt to even try to get past the fog. Her last clear memory was of being at Torchwood. She had been sitting at her desk, filling out paperwork that she'd put off for too long and internally screaming with boredom. She could remember having some kind of after work plans, though she couldn't remember what and she'd been checking her watch every so often to see how much time she had left. She recalled there being a knock at the door, then nothing. Everything went hazy after that.

Rose couldn't even remember who it was knocking.

Maybe she'd fallen asleep at her desk. Paperwork could do that to a person.

She peeked outside again, seeing plastic Mickey still waiting for her. Honestly, how she'd missed that last time was beyond her. He may as well have had a neon sign hanging over him, with an arrow pointing his way saying "Copy". She shook her shoulders lightly and took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom and walking into the main part of the restaurant. She looked around, hoping that her fairly vivid imagination would be so good as to give her a glimpse of the Doctor, but no such luck. She supposed she was just dreaming the memory and since she hadn't remembered seeing a bloke in a leather jacket before he turned up last time, she wouldn't this time.

At least, that was her guess.

As she sat opposite plastic Mickey she once again had to marvel at her own younger self's obliviousness. Plastic Mickey had shiny skin for Christ's sake! The fixed grin on his face was creepy and only made Rose want to toss anti-plastic over him. But she knew that if her dream was following the memory right, the Doctor would be along in a minute, so she chattered on mindlessly, while keeping her eyes peeled for a sight of that daft familiar face.

"So where did you meet this Doctor?" the plastic interrupted her short monologue, "Because I reckon it started back at the shop, am I right? Was he something to do with that?"

Rolling her eyes, Rose retorted, "How come you want to know so much about him?"

"You can trust me sweetheart." Plastic Mickey gave another creepy smile, "Babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning and I can help you Rose. Because that's all I really want to do sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

Rose held back her laughter as best she could as the plastic's voice went funny and began repeating endearments like a broken voice recorder, "You alright there Mickey?" Not noticing the man wearing leather whom had walked over and was standing right beside her.

"Your champagne."

How was it that two words alone could quite literally send her heart shooting into her throat? Rose's head shot up when she heard his voice, and the sight of that face nearly drew her to tears as she beamed up at him. Oh, this was the best part of her dreams of him, the first sight she thought as he grinned back at her, giving a wink that was very reminiscent of his next body. If he was surprised she had looked up at him and given him such a wide smile, he didn't show it, only directed his gaze at the plastic man sitting opposite her, waiting patiently for his acknowledgement.

"We didn't order any champagne." Plastic Mickey stated, still keeping his creepy eyes fixed on Rose as he leaned forward to grasp her hand tightly and level her with a threatening stare, "Where's the Doctor?"

Rose just smirked and looked back up towards the man stood beside her, "About to make a toast by the looks of it."

Plastic Mickey followed her gaze to see the Doctor standing there, holding the previously offered bottle of champagne. "Ah. Gotcha."

Rose had felt her cheeks turned pink as the Doctor grinned at her previous remark and he began to shake the bottle vigorously, "That's right. Don't mind me, just toasting the happy couple." He released cage around the cork, "On the house!"

Rose watched as again the cork flew into Plastic Mickey's forehead, sinking in until the plastic spat it out. She stood up quickly, behind the Doctor who watched Plastic Mickey with nothing but amusement in his eyes as other customers began to take notice of the scene taking place.

Plastic Mickey looked up at the Doctor after spitting out the cork very nonchalantly, "Anyway."

He stood up, raising his hand until it turned into a chopper and he began swinging it in the Doctor's direction. Rose backed away until she was near the fire alarm and watched as the Doctor pulled off the plastic's head. He hovered near a table as the eyes opened wide and the plastic hissed, "Don't think that's gonna stop me."

As the man at the table began to freak out at the sight of a talking dismembered head, Rose hit the alarm to gain attention as the plastic body began flailing around, it's chopper hand causing damage to anything it touched. Customers were screaming and Rose called for them all to clear out the restaurant, shouting for the Doctor to follow her as she legged it through the kitchens. They were coming up to a part of the dream that was rivalled only by her first sight of the Doctor as this would be the memory of the first time she set foot in the Tardis. Three years since Rose had last been in that brilliant blue box. It had crushed her to be separated from the man she loved, but it felt as though she'd lost her home as well as her heart. Her dreams were the only place she could escape to and pretend she was still there and had never left, but she always awoke with an aching emptiness to remind her of what was dream and what was reality.

They ran out into the street and Rose was faced with a sight she'd missed so unbearably it was all she could do not to start making loud and ungraceful sobbing noises. She heard the Doctor sonic the exit shut behind them before he strode past her still holding plastic Mickey's head. She followed him eagerly as he unlocked the Tardis and walked inside, holding the door open as she peeked her head in almost warily, terrified that this would be the moment she woke up. Stepping onto the grating, Rose felt a tingling at the back of her mind, almost like a parent welcoming their child, and understanding washed over her with a startling clarity and she remembered.

Well, not remembered. More like, suddenly she knew. That she wasn't dreaming at all.

How did she know? Good question. And no, she did not have the answer. It was as though stepping into the Tardis was the catalyst needed for comprehension to dawn on her. She wasn't dreaming of her first adventure with the Doctor. She was reliving her first adventure with the Doctor. Rose didn't understand how she had that knowledge suddenly. It was just, there. Like when she'd eaten those chips with the Krilitane oil and knew the answer to complex calculations without thinking. One moment she didn't know and the next she did. It didn't make sense but it filled Rose with an as yet unrivalled amount of joy to look towards the man working at the console and know that he was really there, and she wasn't just dreaming of him.

_I must have really bumped my head._ It still hurt when Rose tried to remember what had happened after that knock on her office door. Anything before that was clear as day, but between the knocking and her standing in the restaurant bathroom, it was all groggy and her mind wouldn't cooperate with her by even giving a hint as to what had actually happened. This was still her teenage body, that much Rose could tell. She no longer dressed like this and her hair and face were reverted so she hadn't exactly time travelled; just her mind and memories had been somehow transplanted back into the body of her nineteen year old self. _God, this is ridiculous._

Taking a look around the console room, Rose was hit with a wave of longing so fierce it nearly sent her crashing to her knees and she had to cling to the bars at the ramp to avoid falling over. The Doctor was fixing the plastic head to the console with thick cables, and still hadn't turned around to see the overwhelmed state Rose was in. She watched him work, moving further up the ramp towards him, terrified that her sudden realization was so wrong and that he and the Tardis would vanish into a wisp of smoke if she moved too quickly or reached out to touch him. She admired his broad frame as he worked, not even noticing that she probably had tears streaming down her face.

"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head's perfect." the Doctor finally acknowledged her as he circled the console, "I can trace the signal back to the original source."

Finally he turned to look at her and Rose's breath hitched at his gaze, which if she wasn't

mistaken, softened ever so slightly, "Right, where do you want to start?"

"It's bigger on the inside." She smiled at him, knowing that was his favourite line and enjoyed watching the amused sparkle in his blue eyes. It caused her heart to clench as she couldn't trace any hint of the affection she'd grown used to in his eyes but she had to remind herself that the man in front of her didn't know her yet. She'd have to repeat a lot of questions, she thought with a stab of annoyance, but then, she was back in the Tardis and she was with the Doctor, and now she had valuable foreknowledge to make sure she didn't get separated from him again. That was a dizzying thought. If this was real, if she hadn't just finally lost her marbles, and she was really back at her beginning with the Doctor, that meant she could change things, didn't it? She didn't have to end up stuck in Pete's world if she knew how to avoid it.

She would repeat every single word verbatim if she had to, if it meant she got to stay with him.

"Yes." He said, his response to her question breaking her out of her thoughts.

"It's alien." A beat later he replied, "Yes."

She stared at him, as though willing him to suddenly laugh and open his arms to catch her as she threw herself at him.

"And you're an alien." She didn't have to ask this time. Just stated the facts as they were laid out in front of her.

He nodded simply, "Yes. Is that alright?"

She grinned at him, "Yeah, it's fantastic."

He raised an eyebrow, causing a blush to stain her cheeks and she furiously wiped away the tears she hadn't noticed before.

"That's alright," he smiled, mistaking her tears, "Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

Unable to hold herself back any longer, Rose launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder, inhaling the scent of his leather jacket and the distinctly masculine aftershave she had always associated with this version of her Doctor. He'd stopped using it after he regenerated and as it assaulted her senses now she was struck with how intensely she loved this man. The Doctor, bless him, was clearly taken by surprise and not used to physical contact of this kind yet. He awkwardly patted her back and kindly allowed her to get it out of her system and reluctantly pull away, putting space between them before he said anything,

"Well you're a friendly one aren't you?"

She choked out a laugh, looking down for a moment before meeting his eyes again. He was clearly bemused, and possibly thought her insane, but didn't seem at all annoyed by her lack of regard for his personal space, though she noticed he put more distance between them as he walked around the Time rotor.

She ran her fingers through her hair, "Yeah, sorry." She decided to tell him something she thought he'd believe, "I just can't believe it's actually real."

He glanced up at her and smiled gently, "It's called the Tardis, this thing." He made a vague gesture and Rose thought she felt an annoyed buzzing from the Tardis in her mind. Probably didn't appreciate being called a thing she thought as the Doctor continued, " T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time and Relative Dimension In Space."

Rose stroked a coral strut near her, "She's beautiful." She felt a warm tingling in her mind which she recognized as the Tardis thanking her. She'd been able to understand the way the Tardis communicated the more time she spent living inside her before she got stuck. Truth be told, she'd been starting to get as bad as the Doctor.

"She?" The Doctor narrowed his gaze.

Rose realized her mistake quickly and tried to explain, "Well yeah. This is a sort of spaceship, right? And aren't ships referred to as female or something?"

He didn't answer her for a moment, just levelled her with that penetrative gaze that Rose had always been half-convinced was x-ray vision before he shot her his silly grin, apparently delighted, "That makes sense. Well done."

"Thanks." Her tone seeped in the same sarcasm as before, she stepped closer to him before remembering that he had the fake Mickey's head attached to the console still, "Uh, Doctor? Mickey's melting."

"Melting?" Whipping round to see what had caught her attention, he began setting the Tardis in motion frantically, "Oh no, no, no, no, no!"

"What's happening?" Rose held onto a Tardis strut as a reflex action when she knew they'd be moving.

"Following the signal, it's fading. Wait a minute I've got it!" The Doctor raced around the console, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there, almost there!"

Rose watched him fly the Tardis, chasing the signal agitatedly before he grew further frustrated and she remembered his old annoyance over losing the signal.

"Here we go!" The Tardis landed and the Doctor ran straight for the door, Rose following him outside at a slower pace. Once again in Westminster on the north bank of the Thames, Rose leaned against the doorway of the Tardis, watching the Doctor pace and moan.

"I lost the signal, I got so close!"

"Can't you pick up another one?" she asked, trying to remember how their conversation had gone last time as she stepped outside towards him.

"Well they don't exactly come along like buses." he shot back.

Rolling her eyes and trying not to snap, Rose replied, "Well what about Mickey?"

Arms folded moodily, the Doctor shot a confused look her way, "Who?"

"Mickey." Rose stated, annoyed, "You know, the guy turned into plastic and whose head you just pulled off and melted?"

"Look, I'm a bit busy trying to save every stupid ape blundering about this planet if you don't mind not nagging me about some kid, alright?" the Doctor retorted annoyed.

"Yes alright!" Rose snapped at him remembering how quickly she used to get agitated with him when they first met, "You know, I'm not sure I believe you. If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?"

"Lots of planets have a north!" he replied defensively. She smirked at the familiar response, and asked the next question in expectation of his answer, "What's a police public call box?"

She liked watching him swagger back to the side of the Tardis, "It's a telephone box from the 1950's." He stroked the wooden door happily as he proudly answered her, "It's a disguise."

She grinned back at him as those pesky butterflies that always made themselves known when he smiled at her danced around in her stomach.

"Okay, and this whole living plastic thing? Why's it here?" Rose asked, trying to keep the conversation as similar to the original as she could.

"Well you've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs." The Doctor explained as Rose moved closer to him until she was stood at his side, "It's food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so earth, dinner." He told her making the gesture of eating with a knife and fork while giving a bitter smile.

The war. She knew now he meant the Time War. She hadn't been paying attention to that last time but Rose knew almost instinctively that the Doctor would be feeling an unending amount of guilt and self-loathing over the repercussions the Time War had had on species like the Nestene consciousness. That's why the Gelth had been able to manipulate him into pitying and helping them when they claimed the Time War had nearly driven them to extinction. The Doctor hoarded all responsibility over the war inside himself, and let it fester and boil and ravage at him until his soul was scarred. This Doctor she was facing now she knew hadn't long ago committed the act of ending the War and forever condemning himself to the pain of being the only survivor of his race.

Knowing better than to ask him to talk about the war now, Rose shifted her thoughts from that subject, "So what do we do to stop it?"

The Doctor grinned as he pulled the tube of blue liquid from his jacket, "Anti-plastic."

"Anti-plastic?"

"Anti-plastic!" Enthusiastic, the Doctor moved away from Rose and she looked behind him to see the London Eye, smack dab behind where the Doctor was standing as he continued, now mostly talking to himself, "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hide what?" Rose raised her eyebrows innocently, trying to hide her smile.

"The transmitter. The consciousness is controlling every piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal." The Doctor explained.

"What will it look like?"

"Like a transmitter." The Doctor replied in his obviously voice, "Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London."

He folded his arms not noticing how Rose's eyes were on said round and massive transmitter, "A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible."

Rose was struggling to hold down her laughter at the Doctor once again nattering on, oblivious when he finally noticed her looking behind him,

"What?"

He turned to look at what she was staring at on the South Bank but the penny didn't drop. Rose continued to pointedly stare behind him. _Penny in the air_. He did catch on eventually, and delighted, he took off running with Rose towards the South Bank, grabbing her hand on the way to keep her close to him. Personally Rose had always loved the moments when the Doctor acted oblivious. Didn't really matter which face he wore; oblivious was a cute look on him. She let out a shout of laughter as they ran and he looked toward her, matching her grin with his own, their hands firmly clasped and swinging between them.

_I've missed running with you._

They found the Nestene chamber when Rose showed the Doctor the manhole entrance under the parapet on Westminster Bridge. Climbing down the short ladder into the brick-built area with a lot of chains hanging about, they made their way down the flight of steps into the multi-level chamber where the Nestene Consciousness was residing.

"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature." The Doctor told Rose.

"Alright, well tell it that it needs to leave then." Rose answered, knowing the Doctor always insisted on giving everyone a fair chance. Rose knew the Nestene Consciousness wouldn't take the Doctor's offer, but she knew what to do this time, and she would move faster so that no one would get hurt. It wasn't really going back on her own time-line if she was reliving it as she apparently was so no paradoxes. Hopefully. The Doctor gave her a strange look she couldn't quite decipher for a brief moment that was over when she blinked and then he was stepping forward onto the catwalk overlooking the seething vat.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

Rose watched as the Nestene Consciousness flexed and the Doctor thanked it, "If I might have permission to approach?"

Rose looked around and caught sight of Mickey on the lower level and ran down towards him, feeling guilt gnaw at her as she remembered just how freaked out he'd been at his first alien contact.

"Mickey! It's me. You're okay." She kneeled down to his level, "It's okay, it's all right."

Mickey was actually shaking as he looked back towards the vat, "That thing down there, the liquid. Rose it can talk!"

Pulling him to face her, Rose tried her best to calm him, looking back around and trying to remember where the Tardis would be brought in. She'd need to get Mickey to the Tardis first before pulling her Jane of the Jungle act.

"Am I addressing the Consciousness?" The Doctor enquired as he continued downwards, "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilisation by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"

Rose shook her head at the Doctor's antics as he grinned at his own joke while a sort-of face formed in the vat of plastic.

"Oh, don't give me that." The Doctor argued in reply to the vat of plastic, "It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk to me about constitutional rights."

The vat of plastic seemed to be arguing, which only incensed the Doctor into raising his voice, "I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you, on their behalf, please, just go."

Rose's shout of warning alerted the Doctor to the two shop dummies who grabbed him from behind, one taking the tube of anti-plastic from his pocket. As the vat of plastic began making noises of outrage, the Doctor tried to make assurances that he had no intention of using any weapon.

"I was not attacking you. I'm here to help." The Doctor insisted, "I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not."

Confusion crossed his features in response to the consciousness, "What do you mean?"

Rose saw the door which slid back to reveal the Tardis. She supposed the plastic men had carried her down from the North bank. Grabbing hold of Mickey and pulling him up, Rose tried dragging him towards the blue box, "Mickey come on, we have to move, now!"

"No. Oh, no. Honestly, no." The Doctor was arguing with the consciousness still, "Yes that's my ship. That's not true. I should know, I was there."

Rose thought she could see a sheen of tears in his eyes and his desperation from where she stood as he stated, "I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" As the plastic in the vat began roaring and becoming further agitated, Rose continued dragging Mickey over to the Tardis, "Mickey, you need to stay here, and do not move."

"What you doing?" he crouched against the door of the blue box, looking up at her fearfully.

"Saving the world." she muttered, "Nothing new."

She stood straight and looked towards where the Doctor was still being held by the plastic dummies. He looked up at her, shouting, "Rose, you need to get out! It's going to the final phase. It's the Tardis! The Nestene's identified it as superior technology, it's terrified. It's starting the invasion, you need to get out now! Just leg it!"

Rose just shook her head smiling at her silly Timelord before running round the chamber to grab a hold of the axe before chopping through the rope holding the long chain to the wall. Taking a firm hold of the chain, she ran and swung out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two shop dummies holding the Doctor into the vat of plastic. The second one holding the anti-plastic dropped it as he fell and the golden living plastic screamed as it began to turn blue from the liquid spilling out from the tube.

"Rose!" The Doctor yelled as she came swinging back towards him, right into his arms. He caught her and pulled her into his grip, grinning as they both looked down towards the Nestene as the explosions began and the signals from the London eye cut off.

"Now we're in trouble." The Doctor told her cheerfully as she giggled at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the Tardis where Mickey was still clinging to the doors for dear life.

"Where did you learn to swing like that anyway, Jungle Jane?" He chuckled at her as he unlocked the doors and they all rushed inside.

"Jericho Street Junior School under 7's gymnastic team." Rose told him proudly, as she stood tall with her hands on the bars of the ramp, grinning at him "I got the bronze."

He gave nothing more than a shout of laughter in response as he darted around the console to send the Tardis into flight. Rose looked round to see Mickey still stuck to the doors, his eyes as wide as can be as he took in the enormity of the Tardis on the inside. Taking his hand and pulling him to his feet, Rose tried to calm him as best she could, "It's alright, she's just bigger on the inside than on the outside."

"But it was a box!" Mickey spluttered looking at her, "How can it be bigger inside? And why're we even hiding in here? We need to get away!"

Sighing, Rose looked towards the Doctor who was pointedly ignoring their conversation as he directed them towards the embankment outside Queen's Arcade.

"We are getting away. This is the Tardis, she's a," pausing for a beat, "Spaceship."

Mickey's eyes got even wider if possible and she knew she wasn't going to get much sense from him. She knew she'd have to talk to him though. Give him some kind of explanation before she swanned off. The Doctor looked up from the scanner to tell them they'd landed and Mickey scrambled up to pull the door open, running out terrified. Rose followed him, picking her phone from her pocket as she rang her mum, wanting to make sure no one had gotten hurt this time,

_"Hello?"_

Hearing her mother's voice caused the strangest tightening in her throat, "Mum? Are you okay?"

_"Oh there you are. I was gonna ring. You can get compensation, I said so. I've got this document thing off the police. Don't thank me."_

Rose couldn't help but laugh at her old mum, same as ever. Another wave of sadness clenched her heart that Rose didn't understand but supposed it was knowing what came next. As Rose went off on her adventures for the next few years, Jackie would be alone. Stamping down the bite of guilt with the reminder that Jackie eventually got reunited with Pete, Rose ended the call, smiling fondly at Mickey who was huddled behind a pallet, still staring in a daze at the Tardis.

"Nestene Consciousness? Easy." Rose turned as she heard his voice and saw him exactly as she remembered, standing in the doorway of his Tardis; The Doctor standing confident and only now could she detect the faint nervous energy tensing his posture.

"You were useless in there," Rose teased, "You'd be dead if it weren't for me."

"Yes I would." The Doctor agreed soberly, "Thank you."

Rose felt her cheeks tint with a blush as she suddenly felt quite bashful. God knew why, she hadn't felt this shy at his thanks last time. Not that she remembered anyway.

"Right then." The Doctor became nonchalant, "I'll be off. Unless, er, I don't know. You could come with me."

Rose smiled, fighting down the urge that was on the tip of her tongue to scream out her agreement while shoving past him back into the Tardis.

"This box isn't just a London hopper you know. It goes anywhere in the universe," he told her, "Free of charge." He smiled, seemingly confident she'd say yes straight away. Then again, she'd very nearly said yes immediately last time as well. The only thing that held her back had been the pestering voice in her head that reminded her she had responsibilities and she couldn't go swanning off. _What about Mum? You have to get a job. You can't just leave. What about Mickey?_

Speaking of Mickey, he made himself noticed finally, "Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing."

Rose tampered down the wave of anger she felt at Mickey's words, only giving him a shove and a glare as the Doctor stated that Mickey was not invited.

"What do you think?" He shrugged, "You could stay here. Fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you can go, anywhere."

Looking back at him, her Doctor, she hid her smile, "It's always this dangerous isn't it?"

Maybe he saw her smile, or maybe it was his own excitement at the thought of adventure but the Doctor had a certain twinkle in his eye as he nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah."

Mickey's arms around her waist reminded Rose of the last time she'd had this conversation with him. She'd said no at first and had immediately felt it as the worst decision she'd ever made. The regret had been felt like a punch to the stomach the moment the Tardis had disappeared. But, then he had come back.

"I can't." She told him, trying her best to ignore the immediate disappointment on his face, "I have to go find my mum and someone has to look after this one." Gesturing to Mickey, she shrugged somewhat hopelessly, praying to every deity she could think of that this didn't backfire on her. If she really was somehow reliving this night and not dreaming it, then everything had gone just exactly as it was supposed to, so he should come back. He had to.

His face was impassive but Rose knew better. She could see the slight surprise and the disappointment in his eyes and internally kicked herself. But she intuitively knew that this was important. That he needed to ask her twice.

"Okay." he said, "See you around." Then he was closing the door and the Tardis was dematerialising.

Rose stood still for just a beat before whirling round to face the boy still clinging to her and staring at the empty space where the blue box had just disappeared. "Mickey, we need to break up."

Yep, that worked. Mickey jolted out of his surprise, turning to face her with a confused frown, but before he could speak she interrupted him, "No listen, I am sorry, really, but we have to." she told him, "It's for the best."

"What you talking about Rose?" He asked her, "We're good, we don't need to break up."

"Yes, we do." she sighed, pulling him up and walking with him, "Look just go find my mum, tell her I'm alright and I'll be gone a year."

Panicking further at her words he shrieked, "What?! A year?! What're you going on about?"

Before she could explain she heard the best sound in the universe as the Tardis materialised behind them. Turning to admire the beautiful sight, she grinned at the Doctor as he poked his head out the door,

"By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"

Her beaming smile giving away her obvious agreement, the Doctor disappeared back inside and Rose turned back to Mickey, who was giving her a desperate expression as he realized she was going.

"Take care of yourself Mickey." she told him, "Find a new girlfriend or something and tell my mum I'll come back soon as I can? I'll see you." She gave him a broad smile as she walked back before turning away.

Running into the Tardis, Rose felt something that she hadn't felt in over 3 years since she'd last stood listening to the Doctor babble about his new catchphrase.

She was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave feedback, let me know if you liked it. Next chapter up soon.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End of the world pt 1

_Running into the Tardis, Rose felt something that she hadn't felt in over 3 years since she'd last stood listening to the Doctor babble about his new catchphrase._

_She was home._

Closing it behind her, Rose leaned against the Tardis door for a moment, meeting the Doctor's eyes as he stood by the time rotor. The green light lit his features and Rose was nearly overcome by the intense emotions that bubbled inside of her when he looked at her. Perhaps she'd just been running on adrenaline up until now, but as she stopped to take a breath it hit her like a freight train; her Doctor was just standing there all nonchalant as can be, evidently pleased that she was coming with him and awaiting her joining him at the Time Rotor. His leather jacket fitted him perfectly, his carriage strong and his face still hardened but she knew what to say to make him soften and smile. His intense blue eyes that could freeze her in place just as soon as heat her until she melted. This was her Doctor who liked his coffee black, two sugars despite asking her for milk the first time she'd offered because he wasn't used to his new taste-buds yet. Her Doctor who had a surprising affinity for video games, pyrotechnics and using the word fantastic. Her Doctor who would get sulky if she argued on anything and would pout with his arms folded until she brought him round by asking a question he couldn't resist answering and who liked to insult species when he was annoyed. This was her Doctor who had cared for Rose so deeply and been so protective that he had eventually given his life to save hers. Love and desire swirled within her while sorrow and ecstasy clashed like a fiery tempest until she was light-headed from the heady mixture of emotion. She'd spent three years fighting to get back to him and now here she was.

And he barely knew her.

Rose's first instinct was to tell the Doctor everything in the hope he believed her and would be able to shed some light on how and why she was reliving her timeline, but terrified as she was that this would backfire on her and she would only lose him again, Rose kept her mouth shut and tried her very best to control her riotous emotions. Her Torchwood training had ingrained in her the ability of maintaining a cool, impassive façade but this wasn't some random alien she'd been sent to negotiate with. It was her Doctor as she'd first known him and though she tried to instil a barrier against her heart for protection, she wasn't sure how long that barrier could hold out.

Plastering a smile onto her face, Rose firmly told her emotions to shut it before practically skipping up to stand next to him.

"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me." He eyed her carefully, lightly throwing and catching a circular object from the time rotor that Rose never had learned the name of. "Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?"

Beaming at him, Rose suggested, "Oh how about we check out the future?"

"How far you wanting to go?" he asked.

"Oh I dunno," she laughed, "Amaze me!"

She watched him place the ball back into its proper place in the time rotor and flick a few switches, look up at her, grinning smugly before twisting and turning the various handles and gadgets to get the Tardis moving before he halted the dematerialising sequence, pointing towards the door.

"There you go. Ten thousand years into your future, planet earth. Step outside, you'll find it's the year 12005." he told her contentedly, "The new Roman Empire."

"You think you're so impressive." Rose raised an eyebrow, unable to refrain from teasing him and delighting in the pleasant inner squirm she felt when he set out to dazzle her on purpose.

"I am so impressive!" He insisted defensively, his features taking on a mock-wounded look.

Rose only shrugged, "Meh, I suppose." Hiding behind her hair before shooting a mischievous grin his way, her tongue poking out in a playful manner.

Catching onto her game, the Doctor sportively narrowed his eyes, "Right then, you asked for it." He began moving around the time rotor, flicking switches, spinning the wheel and keeping his eyes on her while he sent them hurtling through the vortex.

Holding on tight without needing to be asked, Rose couldn't help the dizzying exhilaration she felt as they went towards their adventure. Already she was going through people in her mind who had died on Platform One. Not this time though, she was determined that she would try to save as many lives as she could. Sadly, Rose thought, she probably wouldn't be able to save everyone. She'd have to be extremely careful of what she said to avoid suspicion, especially from the Doctor. She'd hate if she caused him to mistrust her because she hadn't thought before speaking. Finishing the flight sequence with a flourish and a ding! of the bell, the Doctor motioned towards the doors with a manner only he could master when she asked where they'd landed.

Shooting one last grin in his direction, Rose darted towards the doors, steadying herself for a deep breath before she stepped out onto the space station. Jumping down the flight of steps she made her way towards the large shutters hiding the planet below, only looking over her shoulder once to see the Doctor sonic the controls to bring the shutters down, revealing the orbital view of the earth. Recalling how stunned she had been when she'd last stood in this exact spot, Rose couldn't help but give a small chuckle, ignoring the Doctor's inquisitive glance as she stepped closer to the protective glass. Truth be told, she was still stunned. Even now, after all the things she'd seen, heard and done, Rose was still astonished by sights like the one before her. Knowing she was looking at Earth on its last day once again caused a lump in Rose's throat. That was her planet, where she was born and where she'd spent the first nineteen years of her life. She knew why the Doctor had brought her here.

"Humans." He interrupted her thoughts, "You all spend so much time thinking about dying. Predicting death by eggs or beef or asteroids or global warming. You never stop to imagine the impossible; that just maybe you all survive."

His arms were folded and he spoke with an exasperated air as he explained that it was the year 5.5/apple/26 and he'd landed them in the day the sun expanded.

"Welcome to the end of the world."

The first time he'd told her that, Rose had been torn between disbelief and despair. No one wants to watch their planet burn after all but Rose had followed that thought up with one of relief. Because if the Doctor had brought her here, surely that meant he was going to save the earth again, with her helping him. After all, why else would they be there, she had thought.

"Come on then." The Doctor spun round, striding towards the exit with Rose hot on his heels as they made their way to the observation deck.

Rose kept silent for the most part as she followed behind the Doctor. Her thoughts clashed and spun round her mind, fighting for dominance as she tried to make a plan of action, and not focus on the fact that the Doctor had opted for her first adventure in the Tardis to be to watch her own planet burn. She wasn't naïve anymore, she knew that the Doctor's grief regarding the Time War was still fresh and he was likely still desperately trying to acclimatize to this new universe where he was the last Time Lord and his planet and his species were all gone. She hadn't dwelt on it last time, still not knowing the man well enough to be able to deduce his reasoning despite the loneliness emanating from him. But knowing him as well as she did, she considered that there was a part of him that just wanted for someone to understand what it was like to see their own planet roast up into nothing, knowing that they were, in that moment, the last of their kind.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver to override the controls to the door of the observation gallery, and Rose heard the computer announcements as she followed him inside, figuring she best start asking questions. She needed to remember to seem innocent and naive, so she'd need to hold back every instinct gained from her travels with the Doctor and then her Torchwood training.

"So if this is the end of the world, what'll happen to all the people?"

"It's empty. They're all gone. No one left." he told her, looking briefly over his shoulder.

She noticed he didn't clarify that humanity had by now spread across galaxies and evolved, and sighed as she considered this, "Just me then."

"So, it just said guests, is that gonna be aliens?"

"Yep." he answered cheerfully, striding towards the glass where there was a clear view for the planet's destruction, Rose following behind in a daze.

She was for the most part running on autopilot for the next few minutes while the Doctor explained about the National Trust running out of funds and the rich aliens coming to watch the end of the earth for entertainment. She was trying to remember exactly what had happened last time around but her stupid human memory got fuzzy on some of the details. Rolling her eyes at the thought of the Doctor being in her position and using the opportunity to boast about his superior Timelord biology that gave him flawless memory capabilities. Apparently. Still didn't help him when he'd forget he'd left the oven on and the Tardis had to switch it off for him.

Blinking out of her thoughts, she realized the Doctor was holding up the psychic paper and staring at her with an eyebrow raised in concern,

"You alright there?"

"Yeah." She smiled, looking over to see the Steward announcing their arrival and the small blue-skinned workers rushing about to their places as the other guests began to arrive. Watching recognized guests like Jabe and the Moxx of Balhoon whom had lost their lives because of Cassandra's greed clawed at her conscience. She had to make sure she didn't get stuck in that room waiting to get fried like an egg so that she'd be able to help and hopefully prevent any deaths. She watched with fascination as the guests made their way around the room, still managing to be struck by just how alien they were. She held back a chuckle he had told her afterwards when she asked that "air from my lungs" was akin to snogging the living daylights out of someone and he'd not really given it much thought before doing it. No wonder Jabe had been so taken with him. Preferring to avoid that, she pulled a few loose hairs to hand over as Jabe approached the pair,

"The gift of peace." she told them gently, handing them the rooted twig in a pot, "I give you a cutting from my Grandfather."

The Doctor took the potted twig and Rose thrust out her hand holding four hairs before he could blink, "Thanks, we give you hair from my head."

Jabe blinked her for a moment before graciously accepting the offered hair and moving away with Lute and Coffa. Rose looked up at the Doctor smiling at his bemused expression.

"Quick thinking?"

She just shrugged and looked to see that the Face of Boe had been announced. She made a silent note to talk to him if given the opportunity this time round; the Doctor didn't describe just anyone as enigmatic so she was quite curious. Plus, it's not everyday one gets to have a conversation with a big telepathic head. She then shuffled behind the Doctor sneakily in avoidance of the spit that flew the Doctor's way from the Moxx of Balhoon.

"Ta very much!" She giggled as she handed over a few hairs, delighted in _this_ perk of foreknowledge. The Doctor regarded her for a moment as she didn't even try to contain her laughter, trying in vain to hide his own amusement but he found her smiles infectious and was pleased with how well she was taking everything.

"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme! I bring you hair from my companion's head!" he pulled three such hairs loose and handed them over as Rose shifted uncomfortably at the sight of the large metal balls which housed the creepy killer spider creatures.

Reluctantly accepting the metal ball when offered, Rose was unable to fight down the glare which rose up on her features at the sight of the next guest.

"And last but not least, our very special guest." the Steward announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien dot Delta Seventeen."

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it?" Cassandra preened, "I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me."

Rose felt a wave of revulsion as she remembered Cassandra's intent for the gathering. When they had last met on New Earth, she'd felt pity and compassion as she saw Cassandra in Chip's body greet her younger self. In her last moments, Cassandra had chosen to let go and Rose couldn't hate her knowing she'd eventually make the right choice but still, her selfish actions had cost others their lives and Rose couldn't forgive that. She deliberately avoided the Doctor's gaze as she narrowed her eyes at the face in the stretched piece of skin.

The Doctor was filled with mirth at the last human and grinned widely in sheer amusement at the look on Rose's face, perhaps mistaking it for confusion, bending his head down to whisper in her ear,

"The Great and the Good come to watch the earth burn. But that's really just the rich."

"Ain't it always the same." she muttered back to him, "How is she the last human though?"

"Why don't you go and ask her?" he challenged.

She raised a brow as she pretended to mull it over, her eyes flicking about the room as she observed the other guests and their interactions, tuning out the remainder of Cassandra's speech until she saw the jukebox being wheeled into the room.

"And here, another rarity." Cassandra announced, "According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"

Rose choked back a laugh as one of the attendants pressed a button and the strains of "Tainted Love" began to ring out.

"Very classical." she commented, giggling at the Doctor's entertained face and when he moved his head to the rhythm.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes." The Steward's casual statement caused Rose's stomach to churn a little in discomfit and she quietly excused herself to the Doctor before walking off towards the exit.

She got close to the threshold when Jabe appeared in front of her holding a device that Rose didn't recognize,

"Rose Tyler?" A flash came from the device that Rose assumed was a type of camera and she smiled uneasily as Jabe gave her a kind look, thanking her before moving away. She headed towards the observation deck, keen to get a few moments to collect herself and sat herself down on the step, looking out at the view of the classic earth. She thought how she'd fled here last time when the sight of all the different aliens had gotten a bit overwhelming and she'd argued with the Doctor over his refusal to answer her questioning about his planet or species, feeling more and more uncertain about the fact she'd run off with a stranger. Now she'd fled again because all the familiar faces and knowledge of upcoming events that she needed to somehow prevent just kept niggling away at her.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Manchester suite, the Doctor had given Rose a few moments before following and walked past Jabe as she consulted her device.

"Identify species. Please identify species." Rose Tyler was clearly some kind of humanoid species, but Jabe was confused as her device twittered and seemed reluctant to offer any information, "Now stop it. Identify her race. Where's she from?" Symbols and words flickered onto the screen before becoming scrambled. Some sort of Badwolf virus was affecting the results until they became unintelligible. Jabe had only just been able to identify that Rose's origin was in fact Planet Earth before her device cut out entirely.

Jabe was vaguely annoyed, and wondered why the Rose girl's race should cause her device to react in such a way, and contemplated outright asking her. It wasn't everyday someone offered their own hair as a gift; it wasn't intimate so much as it was familiar and it had spiked her curiosity.

* * *

Rose was telling herself that she should probably go back when she heard the Doctor calling for her and remembered with a grimace the original conversation that had taken place. Definitely not repeating that.

"Aye, aye." The Doctor greeted as he entered, skipping down to sit across from her, "What do you think, then?"

She looked over at him, smiling and hoping he believed it, "I think that if I thought my imagination was that good, I'd believe I was dreaming."

He gave a wry smile, "Overwhelmed?"

"A little." she admitted, smiling as she relaxed next to him, "I mean, it's incredible, seeing different species and talking to them, but they're gathering to watch a planet burn."

He turned his head away at that and she mentally kicked herself, changing the subject quickly,

"How is it they all speak English?" she asked, "I mean, if all over Earth there are a load of different languages, I'd have thought aliens would have different languages as well?"

"Nah, they aren't speaking English." he told her as he lounged back propping one leg up, "You hear English because the Tardis is translating for you."

"How does she do that?"

"The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates." he explained.

"Ah." she replied, "That's handy. But how can a spaceship be telepathic?"

He looked at her, "The Tardis is sentient, she's alive."

Rose already knew this of course but allowed the surprise to show on her face, more at the fact that he was easily answering her questioning.

"Wow, what kind of planet has sentient spaceships on it?"

He grew uncomfortable and looked away from her again, "Tardis' are grown on my planet."

"What planet's that then?" Rose enquired.

"Well you aren't going to know where it is." he answered shortly.

"Probably not." she conceded, moving so that she was sat by his side, their legs hanging over the edge of the landing area, "So it can't hurt for me to know the name. Seeing as you know I'm from Earth so you have me at a bit of a disadvantage."

She felt a slight twinge at her own words when he looked down, and was just about to backtrack out of the route their conversation had taken completely when he muttered three syllables in a pained tone,

"Gallifrey."

Rose bit her lip as she caught his troubled features, "Beautiful name. Sounds Irish."

He snorted at that and went silent, and Rose mulled over her next question for a few moments before asking tentatively,

"So, if you're from a different planet, how comes you look human?"

The Doctor snickered at that, "I don't look human, you look Timelord. We came first."

She rolled her eyes in amusement, "Timelord?"

His eyes widened as he realized he'd given away his species without meaning to, and he stood abruptly, walking to fix his gaze on the earth, while Rose stared at his leather clad figure, feeling guilt well up inside of her for upsetting him. She stood and followed him to the glass window, shuffling her feet slightly,

"Didn't mean to pry. Like my mate Shareen always says, no arguing with the designated driver." She repeated the words that had coaxed him from his stony silence last time, smiling at his grin as she pulled out her old phone, "Not like I can call for a taxi anyway."

She gave a laugh as she waved her phone slightly, "No signal five billion years in the future then."

The Doctor looked her way with a small smile before taking the phone from her, "Tell you what." He began to take the phone apart, using the sonic to upgrade it, "With a little bit of jiggery pokery."

"Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery?"

"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you?" he answered soberly.

"Nah, I failed hullabaloo." Rose laughed, not caring in the slightest at her repeated joke as it achieved the result she wanted and the Doctor smiled softly at her as he handed the phone back.

"There you go." he said brightly, and she was pleased to note that the darkness had receded from his eyes.

"Thanks." she said, switching the phone on and scrolling through the contacts, internally wincing at the old technology she hadn't used in years. As she dialled her mother's number, she knew it would work yet was still amazed when she heard her mother's voice chime through the speaker,

"Hello?"

There was that lump in her throat again, "Mum?"

"Oh what is it?" Jackie asked, What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits. You should get your money back."

Rose felt the sheen of tears and choked back the sudden rush of emotion as her mum continued,

"Go on. There must be something. You never phone in the middle of the day."

Having covered her mouth in an effort to hold back a sob, Rose breathed deeply before answering, "Nothing, I'm fine. Sorry, just wanted to see if you were alright?"

She could sense the Doctor eyeing her carefully and she didn't blame him. She wasn't sure why speaking to her mother was making her feel this way. She felt gripped with sadness and it didn't make sense to her.

"Course I'm all right." Jackie told her, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Wondering if she could give her mum a warning at what would be her twelve month absence, Rose shrugged despite Jackie not seeing her, "Just checking. Listen, erm I wanted to let you know that I won't be home for a while." She turned to the Doctor to gauge his reaction to her words.

"What do you mean, a while? Where are you?"

"Just with a friend." Rose assured her, "Just so you don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Well how long's a while?" Jackie asked, starting to sound concerned.

Rose held back her grimace; she couldn't tell Jackie she'd be gone for a year since the Doctor wasn't intending to make her that late so it wouldn't be something she could explain to him. Besides, she really couldn't deal with the lecturing she'd get from her mother right now as Jackie would no doubt insist Rose returned home immediately. Rose knew they had to be twelve months late so that they'd be there to intervene with the Slitheen's attack but it killed her to imagine her mum sitting in their old flat all alone for a year, thinking her daughter must be dead while she had missing posters put up all over London.

"Just a couple of days." she replied, closing her eyes as her insides shredded with guilt.

"Is there something wrong sweetheart?"

Rose smiled at her mum's typical endearment, "No, I'm great. Top of the world. I'll see you soon."

She ended the call and took a shaky breath.

"You think that's amazing, you should see the bill." The Doctor joked before clearing his throat, "You alright?"

Rose didn't answer, just took his hand, squeezing it gently and smiling at him, "Thank you."

"What for?"

She grinned her tongue in teeth grin, "Oh you know..."

She trailed off as she couldn't possibly start to list everything she was thankful to the Doctor for. They'd be there all day and he technically hadn't done some of it yet.

He opened his mouth to respond when the space station began to shake vigorously and Rose held tight to the Doctor to avoid falling as he held her arms. Once it had passed, they stood straight, and he looked at her with that twinkle of mischief glinting in his eyes,

"That's not supposed to happen."

"Trouble?" she matched his excited grin and he internally cheered that he'd lucked out with a companion who seemed to enjoy the idea of possible danger as much as he did. Made it more likely they'd stay on.

"Sounds like." They turned and left to return to the Manchester suite, and the Doctor took Rose's hand again without thinking. He liked the feel of her smaller, softer hand firmly clasped in his. He half expected her to pull away, but she never did, just shot him a beaming smile and laced her fingers with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pt 2 of End of the World

**The Effects of Faith - Chapter Three**

Rose stood watching the asteroids that were once the Earth as they floated around the sun. She'd suggested he go straight to the Steward after his announcement about gravity pockets in the hopes they'd get there in time to save him, only to discover he was already dead. None of the guests had died; Rose had taken Jabe's place when holding down the switch for the fans, and though her hands had been severely burnt as a result, it had been worth it knowing that she'd acted quickly enough to save lives. Just not all of them.

She had known a redo didn't automatically mean every life that had been lost could be saved, deep in her heart she knew that. She'd even had this expressed to her earlier.

_Rose stalked from where she'd been standing with Cassandra to the wall nearest the exit, leaning back with her arms folded in a very Doctor-y manner as she surveyed the guests chattering and socializing. She'd hoped that she might be able to appeal to Cassandra's wafer thin but still there better nature and persuade her to call off her plan. Honestly, she'd held little to no hope, Rose thought scuffing her trainers as she scowled, but it had been worth a shot. She'd sent the Doctor to the Steward with Jabe so that she could talk to Cassandra, but really should have known it was a waste of her time. "Stupid trampoline" she muttered under her breath as the computer once again announced the time left until earth death. Yeah, that didn't help._

_So wrapped up in her internal grumbles about bitchy trampolines that she nearly missed the tingling at the back of her head. She ignored it at first, thinking she'd imagined it, when it came again, this time a little stronger but still mild. It almost felt like a greeting. She could tell it wasn't the Tardis, and blinked in astonishment as she looked around the observation gallery. She couldn't spot any guests who were looking in her direction, but the tingling in her mind felt strong, like whoever was sending it was close._

_"Hello Rose Tyler." a voice spoke in her head. Now where did she know that voice?_

_"Oh, come now, it hasn't been that long since you saw me last." the voice was amused, as amused as bodiless voices could sound. Oh damn it, was this the moment she realized she was insane?_

_She still stood with her back to the wall, her eyes flicking about the room frantically as she tried to locate the voice's origin. Her eyes caught on the glass container which encased the gigantic human-ish head and remembered that the Face of Boe was telepathic. The face wasn't looking at her, he himself was somewhat distanced from the other guests, surveying their interactions._

_Not really sure how to reply to a voice in her head other than thinking really loud, Rose hesitantly 'sent out' a "Hello?"_

_"Hello." the voice replied, still amused._

_"Face of Boe?"_

_"That is the name I am known by now."_

_Rose blinked a few times in surprise, "Do you have another name you prefer?"_

_She swore she heard a rumble of laughter before the melody of a familiar song scattered through her mind and she almost felt the bitter cold of the London night, felt the hard surface of the spaceship beneath her feet.  
_

_"We'll always have Moonlight Serenade."_

_Her eyes fixed on the Face of Boe as she tried to wrap her mind around what he seemed to be telling her. It couldn't be._

_"Jack?"_

_"Hello." the voice was warm and she was struck by the familiarity she felt despite the voice itself sounding different from that of the man she'd known._

_"Hello." she thought as her heart stuttered and her head spun with her discovery._

_"Hello." he repeated and she grinned at the familiar turn of conversation, definitely Jack._

_"But how?" She wasn't sure how to finish that question; how was he here? How was he telepathic? How was he a giant face?_

_She couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up and spilled from her lips against her control. Jack Harkness could without a doubt be accused of vanity and if he had known he would turn into a giant telepathic head, she could just imagine his horror and tried to repress another giggle before she attracted attention._

_"Actually I think I handled the discovery with dignity." the voice spoke in her mind again, "And it certainly helps when those around you are unaware of your past identities."_

_Rose snorted, "I'm sure it does. I don't understand though, how are you here? And how can you be the Face of Boe? The Doctor told me the Face of Boe was rumoured to have lived for billions of years but when I met Jack Harkness, you were human. You weren't even telepathic, were you?"_

_"I was not." Jack confirmed, "You knew me before the events which altered my biology."  
_

_"And what events were those?" Rose asked curiously._

_"It is not to be told. It is to be lived."_

_Rose twisted her mouth in annoyance, "Really Jack? You're gonna play mysterious engimatic being on me now?"_

_She felt what she supposed was the mental equivalent of a shug from Jack and she pushed aside her curiosity over how he had come to his current state for other burning questions.  
_

_"But what about the Gamestation?" she asked, "The Doctor told me you stayed behind and whenever I asked to go back he made up some excuse and said you'd be busy."_

_Was that noise of disgust? Or perhaps a mental eye-roll from Jack as she awaited a verbal response._

_"It will become clear in time to you, Rose. I only wanted to wish you luck on your journey."_

_"My journey?"_

_"You are reliving your own timeline. Reliving your adventures with the Doctor with the design of changing your future."_

_Rose pulled at a thread on her jeans agitatedly, "So am I successful then? Do I get to stay with the Doctor?"  
_

_"I cannot tell you that, young wolf." Jack calmy explained, "It must be lived."_

_Rose held back a pout; yeah, she'd guessed it would be something annoying like that. Still didn't mean she had to like it. For all her foreknowledge, she was still blind to the actual outcome of her meddling and didn't you just love irony?  
_

_"Young wolf? Strange nickname."_

_A soft chuckle flitted through her mind and once again she felt the familiarity wash over her in waves. She toyed with her hair, one leg crossed the other as she leaned back against the wall the picture of nonchalance while having a telepahtic conversation with one of her best friends who was also a giant head in a jar. As you do._

_"I'm sure it will come to make sense to you. We all have our little nicknames."_

_She imagined the Doctor discovering what she had about the Face of Boe's identity and felt her lips curl up imagining the endless nicknames he would have gleefully plagued Jack with._

_"I'm sure you are aware the your journey will not be an easy one." Jack paused before continuing, "It is important that you have faith in yourself. The changing of events is dependant on your interference. You cannot alter everything, certain events must occur, as you know how fixed points work, others are simply beyond your control and you should take care not to hold onto any guilt over this."_

* * *

The Doctor came to stand beside her as Rose watched the remains of her planet, contemplating Jack's words. She couldn't think of him as the Face of Boe; he would always be Jack to her whether he wore a world war two era coat and flirted with anything breathing or he was a gigantic head with a weathered face in a large glass casing speaking words of prophetic wisdom. Though the guests had survived and Cassandra had been brought back by the Doctor to explode from the heat despite Rose asking him again to help her, the Earth had burned and no one had been looking. She felt the same sentiments repeated to her last time as she considered all the things she'd seen humanity achieve in the future since.

"What is it Eliot said? The world will end not with a bang but a whimper?" she looked to the Doctor, "Billions of years, all that life, all that history, and now it's gone and no one was even looking. You know you were saying before about how humans are all afraid of dying from global warming and stuff?"

The Doctor nodded and she continued, "Well I'm not afraid to die. I think it's worse to be forgotten."

The Doctor tilted his head slightly as he tried to make some sense out of the girl stood beside him. No, that was wrong, as he appraised her. She wasn't a girl. She was a woman. The way she carried herself, the confidence in her manner of talking and her directness. The ghosts in her eyes he wondered if she realized she had. The Doctor had been closely analysing every movement, quirk and sound from Rose, trying to work out what it was about the young human that perplexed him so. She hadn't reacted to anything in the way he'd expected. She was shocked at the Tardis, but instead of freaking out about it's size or capabilities, instead seemed gleeful and in adoration of it. She'd been quick thinking about offering her own hair as a gift and while she maybe appeared somewhat overwhelmed at times, she still interacted with the other guests with an ease that if he didn't know better would make him suspect she'd had contact with aliens before. When she'd asked if there was any trouble, he couldn't have mistaken the excitement brewing in those eyes of hers. She had the taste for adventure and had thrown herself into the thick of it, something the Doctor admitted he rarely saw this much of from companion's. Her reaction had been plain derision to Cassandra which he agreed with, though the glare his blonde had thrown at the skin was surprising when she couldn't have known what the creaking trampoline had planned. Could she? It did occur to him she might have some low level telepathic ability, it wasn't necessarily uncommon with humans. Though she hadn't mentioned it and really, by her age, if she'd had any telepathic 'episodes' then she would know about it.

Hold up. _His blonde?_

The Doctor shook that idea out of his head, not even wanting to follow that particular train of thought. There had been the tiniest part of him that he loathed to admit about himself that had brought Rose to see her planet burn simply because he wanted her to understand how it felt. To watch your home turn to ash, and with its loss feel the loneliness of being the last of your kind. But the melancholic sorrow reflected in his companion's eyes worked its way into the deep recesses of his blackened, scarred soul and stirred up that little bit of compassion he had left.

He held out his hand for her, "Come with me."

Bringing her back to her present day London, the Doctor watched Rose take in her surroundings. They stood in the middle of the hustle and bustle, the streets teeming with life. Everywhere you looked there was a baby crying or a street musician, a group laughing or a couple walking hand in hand. Just people going about their daily lives. Humanity at its finest really.

"You think it'll last forever," the Doctor stood next to Rose, "People and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky."

He looked down, and he could feel her soft gaze weighing on him, pressing him to say that which he'd avoided before, "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before it's time."

"I'm sorry." Rose told him, and he met her eyes for a moment to see the compassion swirling within, "What happened?"

"There was a war and we lost." Images flashed through his mind; bodies and burning. He could still hear the screaming.

"And your people?"

"I'm a Timelord." He told her, "Not just that, I'm the last of the Timelords. My people burned with the planet, every single one of them. But I survived."

His tone was embittered as he explained, "I'm left travelling alone because there's no one else."

Which was no more than he deserved for what he'd done, the Doctor told himself darkly. He didn't deserve Rose looking at him with her frankly beautiful eyes filled with compassion not pity, and he certainly didn't deserve her standing by his side as she slipped her hand back into his.

"Well, you maybe the last Timelord, but you're definitely not the last goofy eared bloke with a Northern accent, if it's any consolation." she told him wryly earning a small smile before she continued, "And I'm sure it must be very lonely, being the last of your kind. But you aren't alone, not anymore."

He looked down at her and she offered a small, encouraging smile and the Doctor found himself struck by the beauty of Rose Tyler. There she stood; a nineteen year old earth girl wearing a hoodie and baggy jeans, her bleach blonde hair lightly ruffled by the warm breeze, her wide brown eyes having acquired a peculiar look that he couldn't quite decipher but kindled something within him he'd thought long since buried and she stood in the middle of the crowd surrounded by her own kind as he showed her a glimpse of just how broken and alien he was, but it was his hand that she held, and suddenly that weight on his shoulders didn't feel quite so heavy. But would she stay, and continue to lessen the weight?

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"

_I am home._ Words unspoken yet screamed. "No." she said simply, "Right now, I want chips before you get me back in that box. I can smell some and they smell gorgeous."

She beamed at him, delighting as he laughed with her and agreed to go and get chips, "I'm assuming you don't have money?" He merely shrugged grinning back at her.

* * *

They went to a chippie round the corner and Rose felt her spirits lift considerably as she sat across from the Doctor in a cosy little booth as they happily munched on chips smothered in salt and vinegar. Or in the Doctor's case salt as he claimed to dislike vinegar at the moment. She remembered fondly the first time she'd gotten them chips after he'd regenerated; she'd salted them just how he'd always liked them, and he'd happily dug in only to then crinkle up his face in disgust, claiming they had too much salt and asking where was the vinegar? With anyone else she might have been annoyed at having to relearn all of their food habits again; after living with him for just over a year by that point she knew all his favourites, all his preferences, all the stuff he hated but found that the trial by error occurrences just warmed her up to this new man the Doctor had become as she learned his typical reactions and found herself able to see her first Doctor there, just lingering beneath the surface.

She eyed him as he munched away, biting her lip as she considered what she wanted to ask and wondered if it was a good idea when he seemed to have cheered up somewhat.

"Stare at my face any harder, I'd think you were trying to make my head explode." The Doctor quipped, popping a chip in his mouth.

She gave a quick smirk at his teasing before dropping her gaze to the chequered table cover pensively.

"I was just wondering," she began somewhat nervously, having never dared ask this even in her original timeline, "What was it like? Gallifrey?"

She feared she'd crossed the line when his features automatically shifted into what she called his 'Alien-face'; when he looked so devoid of emotion she knew more than she could any other time he was without a doubt not human.

"Sorry to bring it up." she hastily said, "I don't want to bring up painful memories or anything." She fidgeted with her sleeve as his eyes penetrated her, "But maybe talking about it can help?"

She ate her chips quietly after this, he didn't say anything and after a few moments continued eating as well as Rose could have flinched for how thick the tension became. Thinking he wasn't going to say anything, she nearly jumped in shock when his deep voice, thick with emotion broke the silence,

"They called it the Shining World of the Seven Systems." Her eyes flicked up but he wasn't looking at her, his gaze fixed on the table between them, "Tall mountains capped with snow that went on forever and would vividly shine when the second sun rose in the south. Trees with silver leaves. The sky was a burning orange and the morning light would shine just so that those silver leaves looked like a forest on fire." He swallowed thickly and Rose, captivated, hung on his every word as he described his home planet. "To look at it, the planet was flawless. It shone under the twin suns, with brightly golden fields, red deserts and fields of deep red grass. When the autumn came, a fantastic glow came through the branches of the forest. And on the continent of Wild Endeavour, there stood the Citadel of the Timelords."

He broke off and Rose blinked as the spell broke when he stopped speaking. From his description, she could envision this beautiful planet in her mind, or at least an idea of it, and it broke her heart to imagine her Doctor with all his memories of his planet and his people, and being the only person in the universe to know the beauty because he'd been burdened with being the only survivor. She could only barely understand the pain he held; he was everything to her and losing him had nearly killed her, had torn the rug out from under her and she'd fallen so hard and for so long didn't think herself capable of getting back up again. Simply breathing was painful and Rose had blocked out the memories of those dark days where she considered just ending it. She hadn't really a clue on how she could help him, so for now she just stretched her arm across the table, brushing hist fist with her fingertips until he relaxed so she could slip her hand into his.

She thought that hand holding was their silent form of communication; whether to comfort or just when walking, it was their way of saying 'I'm here.'

"It sounds beautiful." she said.

He regarded her impassively for a moment before he gave an appreciative smile, holding onto her hand. She decided to change the subject and, in an attempt to lift the heavy atmosphere, asked him to tell her about some of the places he'd travelled, roaring with laughter as he animatedly regaled her with tales of his adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who or any characters. Nexh chapter will be an interlude, should be up tomorrow or day after.


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interlude  
> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who or any of it's characters.

When they got back to the Tardis, Rose could barely keep her eyes open for longer than a minute as the adrenaline wore off. She dragged her feet behind her slightly, blinking heavily and trying to push past the fatigue so the Doctor wouldn't notice.

"You look dead on your feet." he remarked as she plopped down in the jumpseat, trying and failing to hide her yawn. _Well never mind._

She only hummed in response, too tired to try and form words but could have laughed as she heard the Doctor's dramatic sigh.

"Go get some sleep." he told her, as he stepped up to the main column, sending the Tardis into the vortex, "Go down the corridor and keeping walking until the Tardis shows you a room you can use."

Rose nodded as she pulled herself up, not bothering to throw in the questioning she had last time. She wouldn't have minded just going to sleep there but she did want to get settled back into her room. The Tardis, bless her, had the blue door with yellow and red rose vines appear for her before she'd gotten even half a minute into the hallway, and Rose mentally sent her thanks as she stepped inside. It hit her for a minute just how blank the room was; it was missing the unmade bed as the covers were perfectly neat and untouched, the odd piece of clothing strewn about, the make up and knick knacks covering every inch of the vanity, with all the assortment of keepsakes Rose had accumulated over her years with the Doctor and the seemingly endless amount of photos she had in frames or on the wall. Closing the door behind her, Rose felt the waves of comfort being sent her way and smiled, leaning her head back against the door.

"Thanks love."

Though her room was missing her belongings, it was still decorated right down to the last detail exactly in a way that Rose loved. The walls were a calm blue with lovely pink swirls that she thought looked like clouds. The fluffy carpet beneath her feet was the colour of sage and she already had a vanity set up and the bookcase, two bedside tables and shelves lining the walls waiting for her to fill them. She was at home and so comfortable in this room; she remembered the difficulty she'd had sleeping at first in that other universe when she just couldn't escape the feeling of wrongness that world had. She was glad the Tardis had decorated her room how she liked it; when she'd come on board the first time, her room was for the first week more like a generic hotel room than anything and after she'd first moved her stuff in and it had changed itself around, she'd been so confused and called for the Doctor to explain why her stuff was in someone else's room. He'd told her that the Tardis' telepathic ability meant she could deduce what kind of room a person would feel most at home in and could change the style of the room to suit them. Rose recalled how he'd been slightly surprised then amused as he told her the Tardis must really like her to have changed the design of her room so soon. Rose thought this was the ship's way of welcoming her home and patted the wall nearest to her lovingly, smiling as the lights flickered in reply.

Her bed that was easily the comfiest thing she'd ever slept on looked so inviting and she was dying to dive into the covers and sleep for a century but she never liked going to bed when she felt grimy and weary, and so shuffled to the ensuite across the room. After a shower to clear her head and drying her hair, Rose climbed into the large bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

_Running. Running. Had to keep running._

_A baby laughing as she rocked him, reaching out his chubby hands to grab at the blue box she held._

_A sinister looking elderly man curling his lip as he called her "Abomination."_

_Her mother's face streaked with tears, as she begged her to get away._

_An unknown pressure pushing her down, or something pulling her down as her vision darkened._

* * *

"Rose?" a soft voice called, "Rose? Come to me, Rose."

She found herself standing in the console room, the Doctor nowhere to be found and said console room brighter than she could ever remember seeing it. The time rotor seemed to shine and Rose stepped closer to inspect it when a woman stepped out from round the other side where Rose hadn't spotted her before.

Rose gave a violent start as the woman walked round to her and darted from her reach when she reached out to her.

"Oh, it's alright." the woman assured soothingly, "I won't hurt you."

"But how?" Rose asked, "You look like me."

It was true. Though the woman standing before her wore longer, golden hair that hung in wild curls, she had a sort of glow about her and this version was wearing the most beautiful golden dress Rose had ever seen, she was without a doubt her mirror image.

"Do I?" the woman seemed surprised as she brought her hands up to touch her face, and inspected the honey blonde ringlet she picked up, "Yes, I suppose I would. I don't take human form often, and I don't believe any other form I could choose is yet familiar to you."

She looked up and fixed an enquiring gaze on Rose, "Though it's difficult to be sure. You haven't met Idris yet have you?"

"Who?" Rose raised a confused brow.

"Yes, exactly." the woman nodded emphatically.

"Who are you?" Rose asked, "Where's the Doctor?"

"Oh, fiddling about with my wiring again." the woman waved an exasperated hand, "I swear, if that man reaches for that mallet one more time, I'll shock him into an early regeneration."

"But, we _are_ in the console room." Rose pointed out, getting irritated, "And you never answered my first question."

"Well this is your dream, of course. I'm telepathically projecting myself." she explained in an obvious manner not too far off from the Doctor's, "It was the only way to appear to you like this and I thought it made the easiest way to communicate."

The woman spoke with such a familiar air that Rose felt as if she should instinctively understand who she was. She may wear her face but she wasn't a copy, or another version of herself, she could tell that much. Rose tugged at her own hair nervously, chewing her lower lip as she tried to decide if she was looking at friend or foe. Or an in-between.

The woman suddenly rushed to Rose and grabbed her hands, laughing joyfully, "Oh, how good it is to be able to actually talk to you, my wolf!" She beamed, and up close Rose could make out the difference in the woman's eyes. The golden orbs threatened to pull her in if she looked too close. _So beautiful._

Rose found herself smiling back at the strange woman who looked like her, and sounded like her even though Rose had never been able to speak that clear and she was positive her own voice didn't sound as musical. The manner with which the woman greeted her was so genuinely joyous that Rose felt something akin to awe then a twinge of guilt as she still could not work out who the woman was and she balled both hands into fists at her sides, strengthening her stance. She couldn't let her guard down around a stranger, no matter if said stranger felt so familiar that Rose was wracking her brain to work out who she could be.

The woman continued, gesturing excitedly, "My precious flower, you are treading a dangerous line you know. Going back to rewrite a timeline is one thing, reliving your timeline with foreknowledge is another entirely."

"How do you know about that? And so I am reliving it am I?" Rose asked frantically. Jack had said as much but it was nice to have another confirmation. "It isn't just a really great, really long dream or me having finally lost the plot?"

"What is this plot you have to lose?" the woman drew her eyebrow's together confusedly before hurriedly brushing the topic away, "Never mind. No time, you'll be awake soon. Yes, you are reliving your timeline. Your mind may hold all the memories and knowledge of your time previously spent with the Doctor in another life but your body is that of a human only just started on those adventures."

"You still haven't told me who you are!" Rose pulled her hands away, wondering if she should be suspicious of this woman.

She watched as her own features twisted slightly into a frown, as the woman seemed not hurt only frustrated, "Well you're my wolf! And I'm your-" she turned, throwing her hands up, "What do you call me?" She turned back to face Rose, one hand raised in an emphatic fashion, "We travel! I go,"

The woman's mouth formed a small "Oh" shape as though she were whistling, and Rose heard the most beautiful sound in all the universes; the Tardis.

Rose swear her mouth actually fell open as she stared at the woman who looked like her, but was apparently, "The Tardis?!"

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space!" The wide eyed woman responded, "Yes, that's it." She smiled brightly, "I'm the Tardis!"

She might not have believed it had it not been for the sound made, and now the bright aura surrounding the woman and Rose's own feelings of contentment made sense. She'd always wondered what the Tardis might look like if she were in human form; seeing herself standing there was the last thing she'd have expected.

"Wow. So, you brought me back then?"

At this, the Tardis took on a look of pure innocence, shrugging lightly and brushing down her dress, apparently only just realizing what she was wearing, and Rose watched her delightedly twirl to admire the flowing skirt.

"I'm only here to let you know what you must, my wolf." The Tardis told her, still twirling, "You now have the ability to make the changes necessary to prevent your separation from my thief."

"Your thief?"

"You call him Doctor."

Rose frowned in confusion, "But how is the Doctor your thief?"

"He stole me and I stole him." the Tardis explained simply.

"He stole you?" Her eyes widened comically, Rose let out a shout of laughter, "Seriously? Ha!"

She sobered and looked at the Tardis who had by now stopped twirling and was now sitting cross-legged on the grating in front of the time rotor, hands folded and watching Rose fondly, like a big sister, or a mother. Rose smiled back and went to join her, dropping to the grating to sit facing the Tardis, still baffled that she was even doing just that.

"Do you do this with the Doctor?" she asked, a little shy, "Talk to him in his dreams I mean?"

"No." The Tardis shook her head, a crease forming in between her eyebrows, "I have not. I do not. Although I believe I will eventually." She shook her head lightly and faced Rose with a beaming bright smile, as Rose just pressed her lips together at the other woman's amusing manner of speech.

Rose fumbled with her sleeve before asking in a hopeful voice, "Can I tell the Doctor anything?"

"No!" The Tardis stated decidedly, leaving no room for argument, "He must not know. You not only possess knowledge of your own future, but his. I can not guarantee he will understand or accept what you say to him, and should he not-"

She broke off with a shudder and Rose felt dread pool in her stomach; knowing that she had future knowledge would be that horrific to him? Surely he'd met others who had known his future?

"My wolf, you have been given a chance many would destroy worlds for. A _second_ chance."

"So I can change it, yeah?" Rose asked desperately breaking from her thoughts, "I can stop Canary Wharf from happening? I don't have to lose the Doctor and I can stop all those people from dying?"

"Certain events must occur, including certain deaths." the Tardis replied mysteriously, "If you follow the right path, then your separation from the Doctor should not occur."

"And what's the right path?"

The Tardis smiled sadly, "That is not something I can tell. It something that must be lived."

Rose nearly growled in frustration as the Tardis repeated what Jack had said to her earlier, "Oh, come on. You didn't pop up in my dreams to not even give me a clue!"

The Tardis raised a sardonic eyebrow in response, "I _popped up_ in your dreams to help you understand the situation. I can't just give you an instructions manual."

"But how am I even here?" Rose tried to make sense of her thoughts, "I don't even remember what happened before I was standing in that bathroom, why is that?"

"You will know, you do know, you have known." The Tardis replied rapidly, "But you _cannot_ know until the right moment. Too soon and you could burn."

Frustrated and upset, Rose eyed the Tardis imploringly, "Right moment or I'll burn? But what if I don't succeed? I thought I could save everyone, but today the Steward still died. That poor man, because I didn't move fast enough and was too focused on myself!"

Seeking to console her, the Tardis gently said, "You can not save every life, my wolf. Holding the responsibility and guilt of every life you meet and lose inside of you will only destroy you."

Rose could hear the unspoken reference to the man both women loved. It was exactly what Jack had said to her. She smiled sadly at the Tardis before closing her eyes, heaving a deep sigh as she uttered the words she had held herself back from even thinking too much,

"I can't lose him again. I can't, I'm not strong enough." she opened her eyes, a single tear falling, "I love him and would relive every moment we've spent together a thousand times over. But I can't _lose_ him twice. It damn near killed me the first time, another and I'll be finished."

The Tardis watched her, as Rose continued her confession, "I make mistakes. All the time. I muck things up by getting jealous and lashing out. I say the wrong thing and I push him away. I act without thinking and it backfires on everyone, not just me. What if I don't make things better, when I change it? What if I get trapped anyway but this time without a way back?"

Rose began to cry, letting out the fears that had been brewing inside of her since she'd first realized what she was going to do, "What if, I make things worse, and more people die? What if the Doctor gets hurt or dies because of me?"

The Tardis moved forward, drawing Rose into her embrace as she released the tears she'd been holding back for over a day and felt the barrier break. The mixture of pain, joy, sorrow, confusion, and dread poured out of her in waves as sobbed against the Tardis' warm shoulder as the other blonde woman stroked her hair in a loving manner, and gently sang to her a lullaby Rose didn't recognize. Rose had been trying to follow Jack's advice and ignore the guilt she felt that she hadn't saved everyone on Platform one. She may have told herself that it may not be possible, but it didn't mean she hadn't still hoped. She'd been ecstatically happy when she first realized she had her chance to stop herself from getting stuck in that other universe, but then her feelings of insecurity crept up on her and not preventing the Steward's death had only reminded her that foreknowledge didn't mean she could fix everything.

"Have faith, my wolf." she pulled back once Rose's cries had subsided, "You are at your beginning. Certain events will play out as they did before, as they must, but other events, like your being pulled towards the void then trapped in that other universe, is undecided. Time is not a straight line, as you well know. You have a strength paralleled by few, and your heart will know how to make the choices to lead you down the right path."

Rose gave a watery smile, "Did you bring me back?"

The Tardis only gave a mysterious smile in answer so Rose pressed on, "Why?"

The golden shimmer in her eyes seemed to dull somewhat as the Tardis sat back and surveyed Rose for a moment before answering, "My thief held so much darkness within him after the war of his people. All those emotions that may cause a human to burst from the strain of holding it all inside. And then a golden girl came with us on our adventures and the darkness inside my thief made way for the light."

Rose couldn't help but blush at the clear implication that _she_ had been the one to help the Doctor, and the Tardis' lips curled up briefly before she said, "But then the golden girl was gone and my thief alone once again. The darkness began to take rein once more, only it spread further and he fell harder."

Overtaken by worry Rose leaned forward, "What does that mean? Was he alright?" Her eyes widened, "He didn't d- I mean, he couldn't."

"He was never meant to lose you." The Tardis told her, "He is the Storm and you are the Wolf. That is how it should be."

Rose found this to be fairly cryptic, "So you brought me back so I wouldn't get trapped because we're supposed to be together?"

Giving a smile so motherly that Rose couldn't help but to feel lighter under it's direction, the Tardis gave no answer, only winked at her, "I will be here to guide you, my wolf. Now, I think you need to do some more of that activity where your eyes are closed and it makes my thief grumble about human needs."

Chuckling, Rose raised an eyebrow, "Sleep?"

"Yes. The off switch." The Tardis nodded, "And then another adventure."

Rose felt her eyes grow heavy, but kept her eyes open to see the Tardis dissolve into golden dust. Rose lay on the grating as she fell asleep, her vision about to black out before she heard the Tardis speak in her mind,

_"Oh and hide the mallet from the Doctor please? If he keeps hitting my rotor I'll hide the bananas again."_

Rose gave a chuckle as her mind drifted off a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The Doctor had tried keeping himself busy whilst his new companion had her needed human hours of sleep but he'd gotten bored quickly. He'd fixed the fast return switch, updated the fault locator and added firewalls to the shield oscillator and was currently sitting in the jumpseat, working at a control for the multi-stabiliser, and trying to decide if he could get away with landing the Tardis somewhere to sneak out for a wander while Rose was asleep. He'd done it plenty when he'd had companions before, but knowing his luck he'd end up getting pulled into some war between tribes or arrested. Not that it had bothered him before. He told himself he just preferred to have a companion to show the sights to; more fun that way.

He truthfully wasn't sure what to make of Rose. She seemed to be cleverer than the average ape; quick-thinking and uncommonly brave, but it was surprising to him just how well she had taken everything so far. Granted, so far it had been nothing to half the things the Doctor had seen and experienced in his nine hundred years but then, this was supposed to be new for Rose. She'd had a human moment back on Platform one when she'd taken off to the other observation gallery "for fresh air", but she hadn't been freaking out or asking him to take her home. She'd asked a few questions, and seemed to take everything in stride and the Doctor couldn't help but wonder if he should be suspicious or if she really was just that resilient. She'd also struck him not just as a brave woman but also an exceptionally kind human being. When she'd managed to get him to talk about his home planet, he'd surprised himself; he hadn't spoken a word about Gallifrey since it burned yet this little slip of a human batted her eyelashes at him and he was spilling his guts. Like a bloody schoolboy with a crush he thought shaking his head. The Doctor was undoubtedly attracted to Rose; she was beautiful and seemed to love the idea of adventure as much as he did, how could he not be? He quickly shoved that thought away however; she was his companion, she was only nineteen, and what use would it be to get himself into a lather over someone he couldn't have?

He snorted internally at his own musings as he twisted a screw on the control; usually he liked working with his hands when he was trying to avoid his own thoughts but it wasn't working for him. He kept remembering the compassion in her brown eyes when she'd held his hand and told him his planet sounded beautiful. She'd rattled the iron bars around his heart and he'd given a tiny piece of himself to her today. She'd been the first person he'd been able to even talk about Gallifrey with, and he'd known her all of two days. By her time anyway.

He had taken off around the universe in an effort to forget her existence when she'd first rejected his offer to travel in time. Didn't work, obviously.

He snorted again, before snapping the control back together and jumping up from his seat to slot it back into place in the time rotor. He'd removed his jacket earlier and rolled up his sleeves turning to lean back against the central column and looking towards the corridor his companion had disappeared down a few hours before. She was a little puzzle though; he still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she'd _hugged_ him when she realized that he and the Tardis were alien. As though it were the best thing she'd ever been faced with. Although, the Doctor conceded, his ship was honestly brilliant. The lights glowed brighter a few times as his old girl picked up on his thoughts and he grinned at her apparent concurrence.

"What do _you_ think, old girl?" he asked aloud, "Should we keep her?"

The lights flickered brighter quite rapidly and the Doctor noted that it was almost excitedly. The Tardis' way of jumping up and and down in front of him yelling her agreement. He was pleased the Tardis had taken to his latest companion so well, though it did spike his curiosity further. She was usually fairly unconcerned about who he brought on board; there'd been a few through the centuries she seemed to have a preference for, like Romana or Sarah Jane she'd always seemed partial to. Though never this quickly had she shown any form of preference.

Just another addition to the list of 'Rose Tyler quirks'. Still, from what he'd seen so far, he had great hope that Rose was going to be one hell of a companion.


	6. Chapter Five

Rose stood in front of the full length mirror, staring over her shoulder at the back of her dress to ensure that the corset strings were all in place. She turned to look at her overall appearance, tucking a stray hair back behind her ear and fetched a bobby pin from the vanity to secure it back, thinking over where the Tardis was taking them next. It would be lovely to see Charlie again, she thought with a smile. Though she considered how stubborn and resistant the Doctor had been to her last time when she'd tried reasoning with him. If she was successful, she could save two lives tonight; Mr Sneed and Gwyneth. Rose squared her shoulders to parallel the direction her thoughts had taken as her determination gripped her. She needed to back up her arguments with carefully thought out logic, and try her best not to lose her temper with the Doctor though. Brushing down the bodice, she fixed the shoulders into place, and bit her lip as she considered what would be best to say to make the Doctor realize he couldn't trust the Gelth. Her main aim was to prevent Gwyneth from going through it at all but she suspected she'd need the Doctor backing her up to help the girl to understand.

" _I think she was dead from the moment she stepped under that arch."_

Rose shuddered as she recalled the Doctor's words, and went to get her earrings. She could feel the mental waves of comfort from the Tardis and held her hand against the nearest coral strut in thanks.

"I'll be fine." she said aloud. She'd have to be. She had the familiar thrill throughout her blood of the upcoming challenge; maybe if everything worked out, she could convince the Doctor to check out some more of Victorian Cardiff. As she swung the cape around her shoulders, tying the ribbon together, she eyed her outfit again trying to think what she was missing. Oh! The hairpiece, she thought as she looked at her blonde tresses held away from her face already with pins. She looked around for a few moments, until something led her to the other vanity around the corner that had all manner of hairpieces piled up on it. Precariously balancing on the top was the same red and black flower Rose had kept in her room since she'd first visited Cardiff with the Doctor. Sliding it into place, she straightened the black cape and scrutinized herself for a moment before rolling her eyes and scolding her own hormones. She was wearing almost the same outfit as before but this time she'd been painstakingly careful in applying her make-up so that it looked natural and meticulous when twisting her hair into a chignon. She hadn't put this much effort in last time. True, she wasn't desperately and irrevocably in love with the Doctor yet last time but all the same, he'd likely still make the same comment.

"Blimey!"

 _So far so similar_ she thought as he popped his head up from under the grating. "Good blimey or bad blimey?" she asked smiling as she stepped further into the console room.

"You look beautiful!" The Doctor told her, his honesty etched into his features for about five seconds before he let it drop and added, "Considering."

Rose just rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "Considering?"

"That you're human." The Doctor replied, looking up at her briefly to show his smirk before turning back to sonicing the Tardis wiring.

Rose narrowed her eyes, her lips twisting into what she knew was a flirtatious smirk, "Thanks. You're not so bad. Considering."

Wiping his hands on a cloth the Doctor looked back up at her and raised an eyebrow, "Considering what?"

"That you're an alien." she winked at him to let him know she was teasing. Maybe it was the light but she would swear he blushed. Perhaps it was just the back-light from the Tardis making his ears appear redder than they were.

"So, Earth, Naples, 1860 yeah?" she asked darting towards the doors, internally laughing as he confirmed this.

As she stepped out into the snow, Rose once again admired the view that Victorian Cardiff at Christmas offered. She admired her footprints in the snow, a stark contrast beneath her black shoes, and she was filled with the urge to fall down and wave her hands wildly to make a snow angel. She waited for the Doctor to join her and smiled when he stood beside her holding out his arm.

"Ready for this?" he grinned, "Here we go. History."

"Merry Christmas Doctor." she replied, her tongue peeking through her teeth as she grinned at him.

He smiled down at her, "Merry Christmas Rose."

They walked through the snowy streets, and Rose once again took in the sights and smells as they made their way in the direction of the Theatre, with the Doctor occasionally making remarks in her ear as they went. She watched his face drop when he looked at the date and worked out their location from the newspaper and bit her lip smiling.

"Problem?"

"I may have got the flight a bit wrong." he admitted grudgingly.

"I don't care."

"It's not 1860." he told her, "It's 1869."

"I don't care."

"And it's not Naples."

She stopped him, pulling him round to face her, "I don't care! We're in the past on Christmas Eve! This is amazing!"

"It's Cardiff." he informed her, not bothering to conceal his annoyance from his tone.

"Oi, don't knock Cardiff." she advised him laughingly, "You never know what we might find here."

_Like Charles Dickens and Christmas ghosts._

He snorted mockingly as they continued walking, "In Cardiff? What could happen here? Been travelling for sometime me, never encountered anything of interest in Cardiff."

"Well, now you've done it." Rose told him, knocking their shoulders together, laughing, "Something interesting's bound to happen now."

He just shook his head at her, clearly thinking that since he was the Timelord so he knew better which amused Rose to no end as they walked together, something he picked up on. He was still trying to get her to tell him what was so funny when they rounded the corner and heard the screams coming from the Theatre.

The Doctor turned his head like a sniffer dog picking up the scent of blood, a grin flashing straight onto his face as he threw the newspaper over his shoulder and said, "That's more like it!"

Rose watched him run off, following behind, and spotted the hearse Sneed and Gwyneth would bundle old Mrs. Redpath into in a couple of minutes. Unable to spot either one of them, and guessing they must still be inside the Theatre, Rose continued after the Doctor as he raced in the opposite direction of the screaming masses. They pushed past the crowd; men and women of all adult ages fighting over one another to get out of the building, and Rose held back, watching the Doctor make his way toward the main hall, not realizing she was no longer following. Turning, Rose ran back outside, heading straight for the hearse. She crouched around the back so that neither Sneed nor Gwyneth would be able to spot her from a distance and awaited their arrival, assuming that if she could just get Gwyneth to listen and stop Sneed before he could subdue her with the chloroform and let his filthy hands have a wander, then she'd be able to convince them to let the Doctor and her help without Rose herself having to get knocked out. She really didn't want to get chloroformed and locked in the room with the Gelth again.

Rose raised her head, just able to make their forms out as they struggled towards the hearse. Of course, they were the only two in the street carrying a body between them so not hard to miss. She waited for them to get close enough to overhear Sneed ordering Gwyneth to stick the old woman in the back quickly before she stood up straight and stepped around the carriage, nearly shocking Sneed into dropping old Mrs. Redpath's head.

"It's alright! Don't panic!" Rose held her hands up to show she meant no harm, "I just want to help."

Gwyneth turned quickly as Sneed bundled the body into the carriage, and she plastered a fake calming smile on her face,

"Oh, it's a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself. Me and the master will deal with it. The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary."

"No you're not." Rose retorted, "She's dead, and you're taking her away because something is reanimating her."

Gwyneth's eyes were wide and she shook her head, "No, no miss. I don't know what you mean. The poor lady is ill and we must be getting on or she'll fade fast."

"She's already bloody faded." Rose stated as she moved around Gwyneth before the girl could blink to where Sneed was trying in vain to cover the body and ripped it away, raising an eyebrow as he sputtered his apparent outrage.

"I say miss! You're too high-handed. This lady is ill, as the girl just told you, now we must be getting on!"

"Look, I know that there are bodies that seem to be coming back to life." Rose shot back, "But it's alright, me and my friend can help you!"

She turned to see Gwyneth stock still, unsure of what to do and implored her, "My friend's inside that theatre. He'll be out in a moment though, we just need to wait for him."

She saw Gwyneth's eyes flicker behind her and moved quickly, turning and gripping Sneed's wrist sharply, glaring at him as his eyes widened in shock, and she gripped his wrist holding the chloroform tighter. She could feel the hearse door digging into her back as she moved back too fast to stop herself from crashing into it, but held onto his wrist and diverted her glare between him and Gwyneth as she practically snarled,

"Don't even think about about it."

Sneed's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed nervously, still holding the chloroform soaked handkerchief in his hand. Rose released his wrist, keeping her steady glare on him, internally thanking every deity she could think of on the spot that the Doctor wasn't here to witness her little display of aggessiveness. Her face was impassive, and her eyes cold and she knew he wouldn't see a young shop girl from 21st century London if he looked at her now. She looked towards Gwyneth and tried to deliberately soften her gaze, seeing the fear plain as daylight in the girl's face.

"It's okay. My name's Rose. I just want to help."

She really shouldn't have let go of that slimy little bastard's wrist, Rose thought, inwardly chastising herself for letting her guard down as his handkerchief was abruptly being pressed against her mouth so that she had no choice but to inhale the vapors. Fighting and clawing at his hand, she tried instinctively to get a good enough grip to snap his wrist but as she quickly found herself too drowsy to do so, her body began to sink and she could only make out the sound of her name being called before darkness took over.

 _Ugh I hate chloroform hangovers._ Rose grumbled as she squinted her eyes open, sitting up and trying to stave off the nausea as the room quite literally spun in her vision. She groggily turned her head to see the Gelth controlling Mr. Redpath's body had yet to take over, and swung her legs over the bench she lay on, trying to shake off the dizziness before making her way to the door. Locked, obviously.

She looked over her shoulder when she could hear the strange noise of the Gelth creature transferring itself from the gas lamps to the dead bodies and looked over her shoulder to see Mr. Redpath's body sit up in its coffin and look straight at her.

* * *

"I'm awfully sorry Mister Dickens, but the Master's indisposed." Gwyneth told the two gentlemen at the door nervously but hoping she sounded confident enough that they would go away.

The gas lamp behind her flared violently attracting the Doctor's attention,

"Having trouble with your gas?" he asked, exuding an air of nonchalance, while his hearts pounded with fear over something happening to Rose.

 _If they've hurt her-_ he cut off that thought, pushing past Charles and Gwyneth who was forced to step aside to allow him entry as he went to inspect the gas lamp.

He tapped the lamp twice then pressed his ear up against the wall, listening carefully as Gwyneth admonished,

"You're not allowed inside sir."

"There's something inside the walls." He ignored her comment, his curiosity overtaking him as he listened, "The gas pipes. Something's living inside the gas."

He looked toward Gwyneth, trying to work out from her expression at his surprised declaration if she was aware of the gas creatures, until he heard Rose shouting from down the hall,

"SOMEONE LET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Off like a shot, he ran towards her voice, dodging past the old man on his way and heard more of Rose's banging and what sounded like a vase smashing as she continued yelling bloody murder.

"LET ME OUT! SOMEONE OPEN THE DOOR! DOCTOR!"

He ran down several halls before she stopped shouting and he heard her cry out before he got to the hall he'd heard her voice coming from. Locating the room he could hear her struggling in, he kicked the door in, pleased when it flew open on first try. Would've been a bit embarrassing if it hadn't worked. He saw his companion trapped between two corpse-like figures, one of them with his hand over her mouth and stepped forward, reaching out to wrench the male's arm away and pull Rose away with him, keeping his arm wrapped around her waist.

"I think this is my dance, thanks."

They took in the sight of the two figures, Charles and Gwyneth having joined them, and the Doctor could have rolled his eyes at Dickens' words.

"It's a prank. It must be. We're under some kind of mesmeric influence."

"We are not!" Rose shot back before the Doctor could, "They just tried to kill me!"

He felt rage burn throughout his veins at her words, and gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his temper in check.

"That's right. The dead are walking." he concurred, turning his head to Rose, "Hi!"

"Hello!" she grinned at him before turning to beam at Dickens, "Hello Charlie!"

"I'm sorry, have we met?" he asked perplexed.

"Nope." she replied cheerily.

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then. What do you want?"

"Failing." It was the man's mouth moving, but several voices speaking "Open the rift we're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain."

They watched as the gas began to leave the man and the old woman's bodies, and Rose tightened her grip on his jacket as they all watched dumbstruck at the display. The screaming intensified the blue gas flew from the mouths of the dead to the gas lamps, until the corpses collapsed.

"Seriously?" Rose asked after a beat, "Did they just ask for our help, _after_ trying to kill me?"

* * *

"I told you I was trying to help and you drug me anyway and kidnap me!" Rose thundered, slightly limping as she'd hurt her knee trying to kick the door in from the inside before the Gelth-corpses grabbed her, "And if you think I didn't feel where your hands went, think again you dirty old man!"

She saw the Doctor's grin at her words and inwardly rolled her eyes; only he'd find someone else getting told off at a time like this funny. Still extremely pissed off, she started again before Sneed could begin to express his indignation. She was no less angry than she was the first time around that she'd been knocked out and left to die, and having seen her display of aggression earlier Sneed cowered in his armchair.

"You left me in that room with those creatures! You knew what they would do and swanned off, so come on now, get talking!" She hobbled over to the armchair opposite, still clutching the walking stick the Doctor had "persuaded" her to use.

"Well, it's not my fault, it's this house!" Sneed blurted out before looking between her and Dickens who's frown deepened, "It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until a few months back, and then the stiffs," he caught Dickens' offended expression, "the er, dear departed started getting restless."

Rose rolled her eyes as the conversation turned to Sneed trying to convince Dickens that his story was truth and there was no imagination or illusions at play, with the Doctor chiming in to remind him he'd been there and seen it.

"I saw nothing but an illusion." Dickens insisted grandiosely.

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time. Just shut up." The Doctor retorted. Rose rubbed her forehead as she felt a migraine coming on,"What about the gas?"

Rose watched from her seat as Dickens' eyes widened with shock at the Doctor's words and he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him as the Doctor explained the gas creatures would be getting stronger due to the rift and sneaking through.

"The rift being?"

"A weak point in time and space." the Doctor answered her, "A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time."

Rose caught the Doctor's eyes as Sneed began describing the haunted feel of the house they were in, pressing her lips together as he grinned at her, clearly sharing her amusement, especially when Sneed rounded off his creepy speech about echoes in the dark by telling them it had been good for business. Yes, gas creatures reanimate dead bodies who go off killing or attempting to kill others, but at least he'd made a profit.

* * *

When the Doctor had gone off to find Charles, Rose joined Gwyneth in the pantry and set starting the washing up, the pain in her leg now having dulled to a slight twinge.

"Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping." Gwyneth asserted, "It's not right. You go rest your leg and I'll bring you some tea."

"No, really, it's fine." Rose insisted, "My knee feels alright now, anyways I hate sitting idle." She smiled at the serving girl to calm her nerves, "And I'll only have a cuppa if you sit down and have one with me."

"Oh I couldn't miss." Gwyneth shook her head, looking near scandalized at the idea, "There's so much to be done. I don't get paid for sitting about like a shirkster."

 _Guessed as much._ "Well then." Rose began soaking the dishes, and looked up at Gwyneth, smiling gently, as the girl began tidying the area behind her.

"So, do you get time off for yourself Gwyneth?" Rose asked curiously.

Gwyneth looked up at her and nodded, smiling cheerily, "Yes, once a week miss to go to Sunday prayer. And I'll be allowed tomorrow afternoon to pay my respects to my mum and dad."

Rose's eyes tightened at the mention of the parents she had lost, "I'm sorry. About your parents."

Gwyneth eyed her curiously as she began drying the cutlery to be put away, "Thank you miss. But how did you know they had passed?"

Glad her back was turned as her own eyes flashed with brief alarm, Rose calmed her features quickly, turning and replying, "Just assumed, sorry, when you said paying your respects."

Seeming satisfied with that answer, Gwyneth continued with her task, Rose standing behind her fidgeting with her bracelet.

"So, what do you do?" she asked, "On your days off I mean?" she added as Gwyneth turned to her with an enquiring look, "Do you have friends you see, or places you like to visit?"

She found herself wanting to know more about the life this girl led. Last time they'd been here, Rose had mistaken Gwyneth for having little intelligence or strength to stand up for herself, both points she'd been quickly proven wrong on and Rose couldn't help but cringe at her own younger traits. She hadn't consciously been looking down on Gwyneth; she'd tried to show her kindness but had instead been fairly thoughtless and it had always been a source of guilt as she would wonder if she'd taken the time to judge Gwyneth's character fairly and more accurately, gotten to know more about her than her wages and the butcher's boy she fancied then maybe she'd have been able to persuade her against helping her "angels".

Gwyneth gave a small shrug, "I like to run down the heath like I did when I was a girl. I go to leave heather and jasmine on my mum and dad's grave, they were my mum's favourite." They shared a smile at this, "I don't really see many people, except the serving girl from the Maple family across the street or the butcher's boy when he comes by every Tuesday."

Rose smiled remembering Gwyneth's scandalized look despite her blush when she'd gotten her to open up about her crush, "What's that smile I see? Got a liking for this butcher's boy?"

Gwyneth's eyes widened as a blush stained her cheeks and she turned herself around, practically clanging plates together for the distraction, "Oh, I don't know about that miss."

"That blush you're giving tells a different story." Rose teased as she helped her stack plates, "Come on, at least tell me his name?"

After giving Rose a side look and seeing her encouraging smile, Gwyneth turned back towards her with a bright smile of her own, "William. Such a lovely smile on him."

Rose gave a wide smile in reply, "God I love a good smile. Good smile and a great bum." Thinking slyly of how both her Doctor's had filled the criteria.

"Well I have never heard the like!" Gwyneth stated, giving the look of appearing shocked before she and Rose dissolved into laughter.

"You should make him a cuppa tea." Rose suggested, "Trust me, it makes an impression." She thought of the ridiculous amount of pride she'd had when the Doctor declared Rose Tyler tea to be his favourite kind of tea. She still wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic, but nonetheless, she'd been pleased as punch when he said it.

"I swear it is the strangest thing, miss." Gwyneth remarked, "You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing."

Rose smiled slyly at this, "Oh yeah, as wild as the wolf me." At Gwyneth's questioning glance she replied, "Sometimes being wild is okay. You know, rules were made to be broken I think and we don't always have to do what we're told. Or what's expected of us. Sometimes it can be a good thing."

Gwyneth was watching her and listening with a peculiar glance, similar to the one she'd given when she'd been seeing flashes of Rose's future. Rose fidgeted under the penetrative gaze, tucking a stray hair behind her ear and clearing her throat which seemed to break the trance Gwyneth had fallen into as she looked towards the doorway and muttered about asking Mr. Sneed if he wanted more tea brought up. She didn't make any reply to Rose and the blonde was unsure if she should ask her anything else. She wanted to find a way to bring up the Gelth to slip in as subtle a warning as she could give without hoisting Gwyneth over her shoulder and legging it for the Tardis. She was deliberating how to bring it up when Gwyneth turned to her,

"You seem troubled miss. Is everything alright?"

So sincere was Gwyneth's question, Rose felt touched by her concern and smiled, dropping the rag she'd been using to dry dishes at that point and leaning back against the bench behind her, "Yeah I'm always alright. What about you though? I mean, Sneed said this house has always been haunted. How have you been coping? With what's been happening to the bodies?"

She felt guilt twist in her gut as Gwyneth's features immediately took on a troubled edge and Rose stepped forward to take her hand, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Her eyes softening, Gwyneth patted Rose's hand, "You haven't miss. Mister Sneed just says I think too much." She gestured around the pantry, "I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you, miss?"

Rose shook her head automatically, "Oh no, no servants where I come from." Though, there had been a few maids at her mum and Pete's house in the other universe, but then Rose had been so quick to move out into her own city flat and had never really taken to having people wait on her when she'd been staying with her mum. It just felt strange to her, given the world she'd grown up in. She'd seen her mother grow used to it eventually, but even Jackie had taken a while for that.

"And you've come such a long way." Gwyneth's voice broke through her thoughts and Rose blinked in recognition of the concentration in Gwyneth's stare.

"Why do you say that?"

"You're from London." Gwyneth stepped closer and squinted slightly as though she were trying to make sense of what she could see, "But I see two Londons. One is home and one is not. I've seen London in drawings but not like that; people running about half naked, for shame. And balloons in the sky. People flying in balloons. Such a long way _you've_ come, flying through the void. You've flown so far, further than anyone."

Gwyneth's eyes widened slightly, fear and horror creeping into the brown orbs, "The golden girl, so much pain. So cold, so dark. But look, that man, the way you love him. Two faces and you love them both so."

Rose held her breath in trepidation, stunned into silence and frozen as she tried to process Gwyneth's words. It was more than she'd said last time and the look the girl was giving Rose now spoke of grief, terror and pity. Something in Rose's past or future had truly terrified Gwyneth but then, Rose could offer a list of suitable suggestions.

"The things you'll see." Gwyneth continued, "The darkness." Her eyes widened startled as she stepped away quickly, "The big bad wolf!"

As Gwyneth pulled away, ripping her hand that Rose hadn't even realized she still held away, Rose took a deep breath and tucked her hair back behind her ear again before seeking to calm the panicking Gwyneth.

"I'm so sorry, miss." she was saying, "I'm sorry. So sorry!"

Rose wasn't sure if she was apologising for looking or for the things she'd seen considering the pity and terror in her eyes.

"It's okay. You didn't mean to do it." Rose patted her arm gently, "I know it was an accident, it's alright."

Gwyneth was breathing hard and was shaking, close to tears, "I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it."

"But it's getting stronger. More powerful, is that right?" Rose nearly leapt a foot in the air, turning round already on the defensive; how had she forgotten the Doctor would be coming down? Blimey, what did he hear?

"All the time, sir. " Gwyneth admitted, nodding, "Every night, voices in my head." Rose's clenched with sympathy as she considered what Gwyneth had said about being alone mostly in her life. No wonder she saw the Gelth as angels, if they were one of her only sources of comfort. It churned Rose's stomach to think of how those so-called angels would end up killing the girl who had named them so since childhood if she didn't interfere.

"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." The Doctor stood in the doorway, his broad figure an imposing one and Rose narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw, knowing what the Doctor was getting at.

"Oh know you don't." she practically growled, earning surprised looks from both the Doctor and Gwyneth.

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir." Gwyneth told the Doctor, looking from Rose to him, "Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."

"Well that should help. You can show us what to do."

"What to do where, sir?"

"No!" Rose groaned.

"Yep." The Doctor grinned, "We're going to have a séance."

* * *

"Doctor, I really don't think we should do this." Rose muttered to him as Gwyneth set up the table in the living room. Sneed was sitting with Dickens, taking the opportunity of waiting for Gwyneth to interview the author, while Rose stood away from it all with the Doctor, their heads bent closely together.

"Why not? Don't tell me you're superstitious." He leaned down grinning at her, and she playfully scowled back.

"Why would we want to contact them? They're dangerous."

His surprise and confusion was written all over his features, "Why wouldn't we want to contact them? They've asked for our help."

"After they tried to kill me." She pointed out purposefully.

She hoped rather than knew she saw a cloud of doubt fall over his eyes but before he could reply Gwyneth was calling them to the table. Rose reluctantly dragged herself to her seat, avoiding the Doctor's narrow gaze as she sighed.

She'd have questions to ask the Gelth herself when they came through, she decided. Let them bloody well try and get around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor who or any of its characters.


	7. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Unquiet Dead pt2

_She hoped rather than knew she saw a cloud of doubt fall over his eyes but before he could reply Gwyneth was calling them to the table. Rose reluctantly dragged herself to her seat, avoiding the Doctor's narrow gaze as she sighed._

_She'd have questions to ask the Gelth herself when they came through, she decided. Let them bloody well try and get around her._

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in big town." Gwyneth explained as they sat around the table, "Come, we must all join hands."

Dickens huffed indignantly, "I can't take part in this."

"Humbug?" The Doctor mocked, "Come on, open mind."

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask." Dickens responded disbelievingly as he rose from his chair, "Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing." He gestured towards Gwyneth who looked down in discomfort."

"Oi now Charlie, you be nice to her." Rose warned.

"That's right, don't antagonise her." The Doctor nodded merrily, "I love a happy medium."

Rose shook her head incredulously, "Really?" His eyes twinkled and he just grinned at her before urging Dickens to sit back down in between Gwyneth and Rose, who still muttered that she thought it was a bad idea. The Doctor ignored her, which made a swoop of dread jump through Rose's stomach.

Gwyneth began to speak out, attempting to contact the Gelth and Rose felt goosebumps rise on her arms.

"Speak to us that we may relieve your burden."

Rose grit her teeth as she considered the burden the Gelth carried; she believed the Doctor had wanted to help them as some form of recompense for the damages the Time War had wrought and as she considered that their race had been driven near to extinction and their bodies devoured away, she understood. But they couldn't be allowed to come through the rift, the devastation they would bring with them couldn't be allowed to happen. She needed to stop Gwyneth from standing under that arch.

She shushed Dickens when the whispering came and the gas tendrils began to drift above their heads, the voices still unintelligible as the Doctor focussed on Gwyneth, telling her to control it.

"Now look deep." He told her, "Allow them through."

Rose thought she heard Dickens hiss with pain as she clenched both her hands tighter together, also digging her nails into Dickens' and the Doctor's hands, though the latter either didn't notice or just didn't comment.

Gwyneth made the link and the blue outlines of the Gelth formed, risen behind her.

"Great god!" Sneed gasped, "Spirits from the other side!"

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor clarified.

Gwyneth's mouth opened to speak, but it was the gaseous creatures who spoke with childlike, lilting voices, "Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us."

"What do you want us to do?" the Doctor asked them.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge."

"What for?"

"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction." Rose narrowed her eyes at the clear ploy for sympathy, watching the Doctor's face carefully when those words resonated within him.

"Why, what happened?" he asked.

"Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came."

"War? What war?" Dickens interjected.

"The Time War. The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state." The Doctor's face darkened at the mention of the Time War, and she watched with rising nausea as he looked upon the Gelth with renewed empathy.

"So that's why you need the corpses." he stated.

"They can't have them." Rose declared angrily, acquiring curious glances from Sneed and Dickens and an annoyed and somewhat disappointed look that stung from the Doctor.

"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again." The Gelth spoke imploringly, "We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us."

"If you're only after the dead, then why did you try and kill me earlier?" Rose snapped.

"We did not seek to cause harm, we only sought assistance."

Snorting inwardly, Rose sat up and asked, "Well, how many are there of you? If you want bodies, you'll need them soon as you come through, so how many do we need to prepare?"

She could feel the Doctor's hand gripping hers tightly but she ignored him, staring at the blue spectres unflinchingly.

"We are few in number." they answered cryptically, "Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth."

Before she could throw another question their way, the blue figures disappeared back into the gas lamps, and Rose shot up from the table as Gwyneth collapsed onto the table.

"Gwyneth?" she felt the girl's forehead, able to detect a raised temperature and noted the sheen of sweat covering the girl's face, "Oh god, come on, help me get her to the couch."

The Doctor came around the table to lift Gwyneth into his arms, and Rose followed as he laid her down on the chaise longue. She hovered over her, briefly turning round only to ask Sneed to go fetch some water and a rag to bathe Gwyneth's forehead as she began to burn up. If he was offended at being ordered about in his own home, he said nothing, merely shuffled off to do as she asked, still too stunned from the sight of the Gelth to speak apparently whilst Dickens had sunk into the armchair in the corner, amazed at the discovery.

Ensuring Gwyneth was situated comfortably, Rose eventually turned to look at the Doctor, who stood with his arms folded, his expression that of 'Stubborn Timelord arse' as she had nicknamed it, clearly expecting an explanation.

Not liking the disappointment she was sure she saw burning in his eyes, Rose turned her face away, "What?"

"Why are you so against them?"

"Why are you falling over yourself to help them so much?" There was a voice reminding her that arguing with him last time hadn't exactly helped matters, but Rose was finding herself becoming steadily riled up since the sight of the Gelth.

His eyes widened at her seemingly callous reply, "You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."

Her head shot back round so fast she was surprised it didn't crack as she stared at him in disbelief, "Seriously?!"

He just raised an eyebrow, still with his arms folded and she scoffed at him, "They wouldn't answer me when I asked how many they were. They're dangerous!"

"You heard them, Rose!" He finally separated his arms to spread them out in a reasoning manner, "They were trying to ask for help!"

"By trying to kill me?!"

His jaw twitched and she could tell he was trying to not let her words sway him, "You heard them, they didn't mean harm."

Rose twitched, fighting down the urge to slap him, "Sorry, I suppose I just don't take kindly to those who try to snap my neck. I'm just not that evolved."

He rolled his eyes, but she continued, "They were about to snap my neck before you came in, and yes I can tell the difference between someone about to snap my neck and them giving me a hug!"

His eye twitched now and she could see she was starting to make sense to him, but he just didn't want to hear it. She was trying to think of another point to make when Sneed returned with the rag and water she'd requested and she immediately jumped up to face him,

"Mr Sneed!" she cried, "You've been here since before us. How long have bodies been reanimating because of the Gelth?"

Slightly startled at her prompt address, he placed the water and rag down on the table and Rose crouched down to kneel in front of the chaise longue, holding back her hiss of pain at the twinge in her knee.

After thinking for a few moments, Sneed answered, "A few months, I'd say about two."

Bathing the rag in the cool water before wringing it out, Rose glanced toward him briefly, asking, "And how many of those were people killed by the Gelth before they took their bodies?"

"Rose-"the Doctor started as Sneed answered, "I'd say well over half."

Rose felt sickened at the thought.

She bathed Gwyneth's forehead, trying to stave off the rage that was rising up like an inferno. The Doctor was silent, and Rose desperately hoped he was actually thinking logically now, not just focussing on his guilt, but she didn't dare look his way, despising the disappointment she had seen earlier and afraid to see it again. Gwyneth began to stir and Rose gently told her just to sleep, though the girl sat up anyway,

"My angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?"

"They do need you Gwyneth." The Doctor stated, Rose whipping her head round to face him infuriated, "You're their only chance of survival."

"I've told you to leave her alone." Rose protested, "Besides, are you insane? You heard what Mr. Sneed said, they've been killing to steal bodies, not just using what was already empty!"

She gave Gwyneth a glass of water to sip, as Sneed questioned the Doctor again, "Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?"

"Aliens." The Doctor answered simply, his eyes not leaving Rose.

"Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed asked, confused.

"Pretty foreign, yeah." The Doctor nodded, pointing upwards. "From up there."

"Brecon?"

"Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff but the road's blocked." The Doctor informed, "Only a few can get through and even then they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl." Dickens realized.

Clambering to her feet to face them all head on as her anger flowed through her, Rose stuck her hands on her hips as she remonstrated, "They are _not_ having her. I'm not letting her fight your battles. She's exhausted and besides, do I really need to point out, yet again, the fact that they have been murdering people to take their bodies basically disqualifies them from the innocent category?"

"Taking over the body as soon as it's dead doesn't mean they killed them." The Doctor stubbornly objected, "Time's running out and they're getting desperate."

Perhaps Sneed had been about to point out that in fact they had in fact definitely killed people not just waited for them to die before hopping inside immediately, and if Rose's temper hadn't reached boiling point by that moment, perhaps she'd have let him, and perhaps the Doctor would have changed his mind then, and perhaps they could have convinced Gwyneth not to go anywhere near the rift.

Unfortunately Rose couldn't help blurting out as her rage nearly made her dizzy, "Oh for god's sake, Doctor, just say this for what it _is_ why don't you! It is not okay for you to use Gwyneth to pacify _your_ own survivor's guilt!"

As soon as the words were out, she regretted them and snapped her jaw shut, eyes wide and locked on his as her hand came to cover her mouth as if she couldn't believe the words that she'd just spoken. She almost didn't; but she was getting desperate and Rose lashed out when she got desperate.

The Doctor and Rose stared at one another; she felt horrified by her words as she saw the plain shock mixing with hurt swirling in his eyes before the cold seeped in and his face shut down on her, devoid of all emotion. The expression she loathed herself for causing. Only a moment or two had passed since Rose had spoken when she heard Gwyneth's weakened voice point out,

"Excuse me, miss, don't I have a say?"

Breaking from her trance, Rose turned to face Gwyneth again, "Gwyneth, you don't understand. They aren't angels, they'll hurt you!"

"I can see your fear of them is genuine miss." Gwyneth gently surmised, "And I know you are afraid on my behalf. But my angels need me. Doctor", she turned to face the man standing behind Rose, "What do I have to do?"

"You don't _have_ to do anything." His voice was steady and impassive behind her.

Gwyneth's lips turned up lightly, " They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission. So tell me."

"No, Gwyneth, please listen." Rose winced again as she kneeled down so the girl wasn't craning her neck looking up, "These aliens, they're called the Gelth, and they've hurt people Gwyneth. Angels don't hurt people. I know that you want to help them because they seem innocent and they've been talking to you for so long, but bringing them here will just put everyone in danger."

She thought for a moment that maybe it had worked when Gwyneth made no response. Rose watched as Gwyneth seemed to shake her head slightly and wondered if she was talking to her "angels". She looked down at the blanket covering her, before removing it to stand from the couch, and gave Rose a kind smile, "I understand you are concerned, miss. But my angels need me, and they do not seek to harm."

Rose was stock still as around her they arranged to move their group down to the morgue where the weak spot was located. Nothing had changed. She'd made no difference except to possibly incite the Doctor to take her back to the Powell estate after this was all done and leave her there. As Gwyneth rose and led the party out of the living room, Rose followed behind on autopilot before her awareness kicked in and she grabbed the Doctor's sleeve once they were out in the hall, letting the others walk on ahead.

"I'm sorry." she blurted out. "For what I said. I was just angry."

His expression was still stoic as she continued, "I know you'd never _let_ them hurt Gwyneth. But Doctor, please you can't trust them." Unbidden tears spilled over her cheeks and she saw his armour flinch, "They're gonna hurt her, I know it!"

"Rose, why would they hurt her?" His voice was soft, urging her to see his reason but clearly not liking how upset the situation had gotten her, "They've been watching over her all her life, she's going to help them. Why would they mean harm?"

"Well then why couldn't they tell us how many they are?!" Despairing that her Doctor didn't yet have enough faith or trust in her enough yet, and that Gwyneth and Sneed would die because she hadn't stopped it, Rose felt tears streaming down her face as she sobbed, "They'll hurt everyone Doctor! You have to stop her or I know it, they'll kill people!"

She wanted to tell him that she did know. She wanted to tell him everything that she knew, for sure, but she could feel warning tingles that she recognized as the Tardis and it just made her cry harder. Rose had gotten sick of crying a long time ago, but the gaping hole in her chest where all the heartbreak and agony over losing the Doctor grew and festered was open and everything was pouring out. The pain over losing her Doctor and the torture of continuing to love him so desperately she only missed him more not less, her guilt, her dread that if she couldn't change events like this in any way, then she wouldn't change the Canary Wharf events either and she and the Doctor would be ripped apart again, only this time it would be _her_ fault, it all fused together inside of her until it was overflowing and her only expulsion was through fat tears pouring down her face and wrenching sobs tearing from her throat as she begged the Doctor just to _listen._

Completely taken aback by Rose's distress, and horrified at himself for having missed it earlier, for this clearly wasn't something brought on spontaneously, the Doctor pulled her into his arms wrapping his around her and resting his cheek on her head as he stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe her. He felt his jumper dampen from her tears quickly and held her to him tighter, whispering words to console and comfort her while his own mind raced. Up until now, he'd seen Rose remain fairly level-headed in just about every situation. He didn't know why she was so strongly convinced the Gelth meant harm, though he considered her strong arguments; truth be told if his own guilt hadn't been swarming throughout him like a stampede, as Rose had called him out on earlier, he might have agreed. Then there were the things Gwyneth had said to her earlier; was that what had gotten Rose so afraid?

"Doctor? I know you feel guilty because they said the Time war is why their species is the way it is." Rose's voice was slightly muffled by his shirt until she pulled back, "But I need you to trust me. They've killed people to steal their bodies, they were gonna kill me, and if they can't even tell us how many they are, then doesn't that strike you as suspicious? I mean, few what exactly? Few dozen, few hundred, few million?"

Her cheeks were still stained with tears, and her eyes shining from the effort to pull herself together. The gas lamp flickered nearby, casting shadows over her features as she stared into his eyes, willing him to trust her. Truthfully, the Doctor hadn't wanted to trust her judgement; it would have been easier for him if she had only shown her revulsion at the idea of the Gelth using cadavers as hosts because then he could brushed off her concern and opened the rift confident that he was doing the right thing. Instead, his companion had been reduced to tears in her fear as she pleaded with him to see reason and delivered a solid defence for her argument. How she had deduced that he should feel guilty when he had not told her anything about the Time war other than he was the only survivor of his race, he couldn't work out. But now he was undecided and his own concern over the intentions of the Gelth was overriding his guilty conscience. He persuaded Rose to come down with him to the morgue, assuring her not to worry, while internally his logic and guilt went at war with one another. He now tried convincing himself that Gwyneth talking to Rose about things she evidently could see in her future had distressed her and that was why she was reacting so strongly against the Gelth. He tried convincing himself of that, but it wasn't working.

* * *

Standing together in the morgue, Rose could visibly see the Doctor's discomfort and knew she'd finally started breaking through to him. She'd rushed to Gwyneth, grabbing her hand as Sneed and Dickens looked about the morgue for the gas creatures.

"Gwyneth, you don't need to do this." Rose told her, "Just come back upstairs with us."

"I can help my angels live." said Gwyneth, "I choose to help them."

"Gwyneth, maybe you could rest a bit more." The Doctor suggested uneasily, "We don't have to do this now."

"Doctor, I think the room is getting colder." Dickens remarked as whispering began to circle the room and the gas lamps began to flicker.

"Here they come." Rose commented, "Gwyneth I know you want to help them, but these are not angels, I'm telling you!"

Gwyneth was about to respond when one of the Gelth flew from the gas lamp to take form under the archway, "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him."

Rose angrily stood forward, "You can't have her!"

"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth."

The Tardis and Jack had told Rose she couldn't save everyone but watching Gwyneth prepare to step forward as the Gelth announced the archway as the weak spot just as she had last time was too much and she stood forward to grab the girl's hand, trying to pull her back.

"Gwyneth, please don't do this." _Please let me save you._

The girl touched Rose's cheek with a gentle smile, "My angels."

_I think she was dead from the moment she stood in that arch._

Gwyneth stepped back and Rose felt arms loop around her waist to pull her back as she tried to fight her way forward as the blue apparition above Gwyneth cried, "Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!"

"No!"

"Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!" called a rejoicing Gwyneth.

"Bridgehead establishing." The Gelth declared, "It is begun. The bridge is made." Gwyneth opened her mouth as swirls of blue gas seeped out. "She has given herself to the Gelth."

Rose tried in vain to wrench herself from the Doctor's iron grip turning to Dickens and Sneed to warn them to keep back.

"The bridge is open." The Gelth's sweet blue figures transformed into demonic red creatures with vicious bared teeth growing in size as the voice deepened and hardened, "We descend! The Gelth will come through in force!"

"You said you were only few in number!" Dickens cried.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses." As they spoke bodies across the morgue began to rise and approach the humans and the Timelord.

"Rose, you may have had a point." The Doctor uttered, earning an elbow to the stomach as she retorted, "You think?"

Sneed stepped forward to implore Gwyneth to stop what she was doing, and Rose launched herself forward to grab the back of his jacket and haul him back towards them,

"Get back and keep away from them!"

"We need bodies." The Gelth declared, "All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead."

Rose backed away with the Doctor, Sneed and Dickens, the latter two gentlemen terrified out of their wits and edging closer to the door.

Rose looked about for the pipes as the Doctor tried to order Gwyneth to send the Gelth back.

"Four more bodies. Convert them." The Gelth ordered, "Make them vessels for the Gelth!"

The Doctor and Rose backed up against the metal gate as the corpses continued their advance, she turned to see the door and took his hand, pulling him inside as Sneed took off up the stairs, Dickens not far behind him,

"Doctor, I can't! I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so-"

He hastened up the stairs after Sneed and Rose and the Doctor slammed the metal gate shut, backing away out of the reach of the corpses.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth."

"I trusted you, I pitied you!" The Doctor argued.

"We don't want your pity." The Gelth said, "We want this world and all it's flesh."

"Not while I'm alive."

"Then live no more!"

Rose snorted and grabbed the Doctor's hand as she looked around at the gas pipes. Dickens would be coming back in a minute, but she turned the gas tap behind her to let the gas begin flowing into the room.

"Don't know about you." she said to the Doctor, "But I don't fancy dying here."

"I'm sorry." he sighed, "I should have listened. You were right."

"Don't do that." she told him, "They manipulated you into helping them by making you feel sorry for them. It's not your fault. And we'll go down fighting, yeah?"

Their fingers laced together and he turned to her, his eyes burning her with the intensity of his gaze, "I'm so glad I met you."

She smiled softly up at him, squeezing his hand and letting her love for him shine in her eyes, "Thank god I met you."

She turned the gas tap again behind her all the way. The Doctor and Rose were stood in the small alcove behind the metal gating as the corpses tried to reach for them. More gas streamed into the room and Rose felt the first wave of dizziness hit her as Dickens ran back in to tell them to turn off the flames and turn up the gas.

"What're you doing?"

"Turn it all on!" Dickens exclaimed, "Flood the place."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor beamed in realisation.

Rose slumped forward, her head feeling heavy and the Doctor caught her in his arms, looked behind her to see the gas tap she'd had turned back and snapped his face towards hers in horror,

"You've been breathing this in?!"

"Am I right Doctor?" Dickens questioned, "These creatures are gaseous."

"Fill the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound!"

Rose only gave what she thought was a non-committal shrug to his previous question as he growled in frustration, and the corpses turned their attention towards Dickens who backed away to the staircase. Pulling Rose up, he ripped a gas pipe from the wall, causing the screams of the Gelth to pierce the air as they left the bodies forcibly, sucked into the gas.

"It's working." The Doctor and Rose left the alcove and he addressed the girl still standing solemnly beneath the archway.

"Gwyneth send them back! They lied. They're not angels."

"Liars?"

"Gwyneth please listen." Rose pushed back the fog creeping up on her as she struggled to breathe clearly, "You know what you saw earlier, my future? That all needs to happen. But it can't unless the Gelth get sent back!"

"I can't send them back." Gwyneth began, "But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here." She took the box of matches from her apron pocket. "Get out."

Rose swayed against the Doctor as her exposure to the gas fogged her mind and her lids grew heavy.

"Rose?" He cupped her chin with one hand, holding her up by the waist with the other but she was unable to focus on him as all sound and sight blurred. "Charles, take her! Get out of here, both of you!" She felt herself being dragged away from the scene for a moment before it all went black.

* * *

Rose came to, to find herself held tightly in strong arms, the distinct smell of leather and that scent she loved engulfing her senses as she burrowed her face into his shoulder. He was walking, and as she peeked her eyes open, she realized towards the Tardis.

"Alright there, sleeping beauty?" his soft voice broke the pleasant haze her mind was still under and she regretfully opened her eyes to see his concerned face swarm into focus.

She smiled sadly back at him,"Gwyneth didn't get out, did she?"

His eyes grew solemn as he sorrowfully shook his head.

"Please don't blame yourself." she pleaded and his eyes caught hers at her earnest request, "This was not your fault. They played on your guilt and used it to get sympathy so you would help them."

He didn't respond and continued walking, so she peeked over his shoulder, "Oh! Hello Charlie! Still with us then?"

She felt the Doctor's chest rumble with his small laughter at her greeting the author, who seemed surprised at her friendliness.

"Yes, the Doctor explained you both would be leaving." Dickens answered, "I thought I'd come to say my farewells. Are you feeling better, my dear?"

Rose smiled at him, nodding, "A little yeah." Truthfully, she was enjoying far too much being held so closely to the Doctor, and contemplated playing up so he wouldn't let go, but as they came closer to the blue police box, he had to set her down to take his key from his pocket.

"Did Sneed get out alright?" Rose asked, frowning as she hadn't seen the man after he'd legged it up the stairs.

"Mr. Sneed is perfectly fine." Dickens assured her, "Mourning the loss of his maid, poor chap. He said she'd been with him since she was a girl, I feel he's rather cut up about it."

Rose bit her lip feeling plaintive, as Dickens words of the funeral home going up in flames went over her head. "Gwyneth saved the world. A serving girl, and no one will ever know." The three were silent for a few moments before the Doctor turned to Dickens,

"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long."

They made their goodbyes to the author after the Doctor assured him that his books would last forever, Rose once again stepping forward to kiss the man's cheek. The Doctor quashed the bite of jealousy he felt at that and opened the Tardis door, Rose following him inside as they raced up to the Time rotor.

"It's such a shame." Rose pondered, "He's gonna die next year, isn't he? He won't get to publish those stories."

"But in your time, he was already dead." the Doctor told her, "We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise." He grinned as the set the Tardis to de-materialize in front of the astounded author.

* * *

Later, after a much needed shower to clear her head and changing into a pair of sweatpants and a cami top she found in the wardrobe, Rose made her way back to the console room where she found the Doctor brooding as he stared at something on the scanner.

The light from the central column illuminated his face and seemed to highlight his own thoughts; light against shadows. Standing next to him, she rested her head at his shoulder.

"It's really not your fault, you know." she told him, ignoring how he stiffened, "Gwyneth made her own choice, it's not your fault she died."

Did it occur to her that as she was telling the Doctor this, that annoying little voice was speaking up inside of her to say that the same applied to Rose when it came to blaiming herself? Of course it did. Her guilty conscience had been flaring left, right and centre since she had returned to relive this timeline and she knew that she needed to start heeding the advice received from both the Tardis and Jack. Rose would always be sorry that Gwyneth had died, and there would always be a prick of guilt when she thought of being unable to save her. But if Rose was going to get through this, she would have to let go of her guilt and really accept that some things just would never change. The same way she had always wanted the Doctor to let go of his guilt, and why she always assured him when he wasn't to blame.

He sighed, probably disagreeing with her statement, but didn't comment on that, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

"I don't blame you." And really, she didn't. She'd been angry that he wouldn't listen, but she understood why, and couldn't hold it against him, "But if we're gonna travel together, we'll probably end up in situations like this a lot. Will you trust me then?"

She looked up to find he was already watching her with an odd gaze and he nodded, "Promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor who or any of its characters.


	8. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aliens of London

"Okay, so how long have I been gone? Twelve hours?"

"That's right." The Doctor nodded as they left the Tardis.

Rose looked him over in amusement and raised an eyebrow, "You sure it's only twelve? Not nine years?"

He scowled at her mocking and muttered, "Honestly, one time I was a bit late. Yes! It's been twelve hours since you left."

Rose grinned, her tongue poking through her teeth as she stepped away from the Tardis. She'd asked if it was alright for her to use clothes from the wardrobe, knowing it was fine since she did all the time before but thinking she should be polite and he'd been amused by her "typical human" moment, though she liked to think the slightly revealing camisole top she'd chosen on purpose had effectively shut him up.

"Okay. If you say so." she grinned amused, "I'll see you in a while."

"What'll you tell your mum?"

"Oh, you know that I've been to the year five billion, then had tea with Charles Dickens at Christmas." Rose laughed, "But only been gone twelve hours apparently."

She was about to turn when she looked back to the Doctor and pointed her finger, "And you stay put, mister. No swanning off."

She shot him a wink and grinned at his odd look before spinning on her heel and walking the familiar path towards her and her mum's old flat building. It was eery how easy it was to walk up the stairs, not even trying the lift since it had always been broken, and head up towards her old flat. It had been a couple of years but Rose knew the route like the back of her hand and reached into her jacket pocket for the yale key she'd found in the pocket of her baggy jeans with her phone. She took a deep breath as she faced the familiar door, and for a brief moment just stood, with her head rested against it, her eyes closed. How many times had she stood in this exact position when she'd been sent home from school for getting into trouble or been found out for skiving with Shareen and knew she'd have to face her mother when she walked through the door? She'd never dawdle home because that annoyed her mum even more but she'd always stop to mentally prepare herself for the ear-thrashing. Sighing and feeling more than a little sorry for herself, Rose unlocked the door and let herself in. She went straight through to the living room, keeping an eye out for missing posters.

"Mum?" she called, "You there?"

She stopped to face her mother who came out of the kitchen, looking like she'd seen a ghost. Jackie dropped her mug of tea and it smashed on the floor and Rose herself felt staggered to see her mother.

"It's you."

A wave of shame swept over her as she took in her mother's distraught face mixed with sheer joy at the sight of her and offered a hesitant smile,

"Yeah, erm-"

"Oh my god, it's really you." Her mum swept forward to pull her into a tight hug and Rose wrapped her arms around Jackie in response, turning them both around, to catch sight of the 'Have you seen this girl?' posters scattered across the living room table and inwardly groaned.

_Damn._

The Doctor came bursting into the flat behind Rose, who pulled away from her mother as he told her, "Sorry it's not twelve hours, it's twelve months. You've been gone a whole year." He looked between her and Jackie who was wide eyed at his abrupt appearance and smiled nervously, "Sorry."

* * *

Jackie rang the police and went to get dressed, leaving Rose and the Doctor in the living room. Once Jackie had gotten over her initial shock, she'd been furious and rounded on the Doctor immediately, putting two and two together and realizing he was the friend Rose had been referring to when she last called. She'd insisted they both stay put before storming off into her bedroom and the Doctor shot Rose an apologetic smile.

Shrugging at him, she went to make coffee, looking towards her mother's bedroom door and motioning to the Doctor to follow her into the kitchen.

"What should I say?" she asked him as she set out three mugs, assuming her mother would want another, and making a mental note to clear up the mess before she came out.

She had shoved away the guilt she felt last time as best she could, uncomfortable with dwelling on situations where she was the one at fault, but Rose now couldn't stop thinking of those missing posters. What must have been running through her mum's mind?

She'd hoped rather than believed her phone call would help, that by telling her mother she was with a friend and not to worry would make a difference, foolish thought really.

"I'm sorry." She turned to see the Doctor looking uncomfortable and awkward in her kitchen and smiled at him, shaking her head.

"Not your fault." She then chuckled, handing him his coffee, "Though, did you pass your driving test for the Tardis?"

"Oi!" He didn't answer, only solidifying Rose's suspicion and she giggled at him.

"I dunno." he shrugged in answer to her previous question, "I might have had a few people home a few days late before but never a year where they've been officially declared as missing."

Rose watched him take a gulp of his coffee, set the mug down and fold his arms defensively, clearly not looking forward to the upcoming domestics. She cleared up the mess made from the smashed mug and they moved back into the living room with Rose wracking her brain for anything she could say that would give her mum some peace of mind.

* * *

"Why won't you tell me where you've been?" Jackie demanded.

She'd been ranting for a good half hour before the policeman who sat opposite Rose to interview her had shown up and then had started off again when Rose had tried to explain she'd just been travelling.

"Actually, it's my fault." The Doctor interjected finally, having been stolidly silent up until this point, and not hiding behind Rose at all, "I sort of er, employed Rose as my companion."

"When you say companion, is this a sexual relationship?" the policeman asked.

"No!" The Doctor insisted, Rose agreeing though with less, _enthusiasm_ , as the Doctor.

"Then what is it?" Jackie demanded, advancing on the Doctor. He may have dwarfed her in height but Jackie Tyler was prepared to stand toe to toe with anyone who had taken her child from her for a year, "Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, she vanishes off the face of the Earth! How old are you then? Forty? Forty five?" The Doctor grimaced, _if only she knew_. "What, did you find her on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I _am_ a Doctor." he argued.

"Prove it. Stitch this, mate!"

_WHACK!_

Jackie slapped the Doctor, hard and his face snapped to the side. He held his face in shock at the stinging burn as Rose leapt up immediately from her chair,

"Mum! Stop it!" she moved to the Doctor's side, taking his hand away from his face as he eyed Jackie like one might eye a particularly vicious looking animal, "It's not his fault, blame me if you must but don't go hitting him."

"Oh I am blaming you!" Jackie bellowed, "But I'm blaming him too! Look at you! Wearing fancy clothes and fussing and coddling over him! So what did he do? Flash some cash and you went swanning off, for a year?!"

Rose gave a brief glance down at her outfit. True, she should have thought about the fact that at nineteen she'd owned nothing like what she was wearing except for the black camisole top, but skinny black distressed jeans, a nude coloured real leather jacket and black combat boots wouldn't be found in her old wardrobe.

Sighing, Rose stepped away from the Doctor back to her mother and took her hand, "I'm sorry, really I am. But it's not like that, I've been, erm, working for him."

She inwardly grumbled at what she was about to say and darkly muttered with much reluctance, "As his assistant."

She heard his snort behind her and held up a finger without even turning her head, "Don't."

* * *

The policeman had gone off and Rose had taken the Doctor's hand to pull him into the kitchen and get a damp cloth to hold over where her mum had slapped him. He kept his eyes on her face the whole time, uncomfortable with the weird flutterings he kept feeling at her closeness. He could smell perfume she must have found in the wardrobe and inhaled, before his eyes darted over to the doorway where Jackie Tyler stood and narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.

Desperately wanting to be anywhere that Jackie wasn't, the Doctor shifted uncomfortably until Rose caught his eye, amusement shining in hers as she detected his jitters. Their eyes were locked together for a long moment before Rose stepped away, averting her eyes and clearing her throat to break the spell.

She looked to her still furious mother and asked the Doctor if he could give them a couple of minutes, something he didn't need to be asked twice for.

"Did you even think about me?" Jackie asked her, tears blurring her sight.

"I did, of course I did." Rose promised, "I'm really sorry, I didn't think this would happen. I thought you'd have talked to Mickey and we weren't meant to be away for so long."

Jackie rolled her eyes, scoffing, "Mickey said nothing other than you'd gone off with a mate, but he would never tell me who! Said you dumped him and went off!"

Rose grimaced but felt somewhat better that at least it didn't sound like Mickey had nearly gotten banged up.

Jackie started to cry, causing tears to rush to Rose's eyes in response, "If you'd only phoned me to tell me you were alright, that one phone call just to say you were with a mate was no good when you wouldn't say who with or when you'd be back. You didn't pack any bags or anything, it was like you'd vanished."

"I'm sorry, mum." Rose told her as guilt tore her up, "I really am."

* * *

Later, as Rose sat on the roof of the block, she felt like such an idiot for not thinking to ring her mum after Platform One or before the Doctor had landed them back on the estate. She didn't know when the phone call would have gotten through to Jackie, but at least it would have been something. She rubbed her face in frustration, when she heard his voice as he dropped down next to her.

"So, my assistant eh?"

"Shut up." she playfully grumbled at him. She remembered how offended she'd gotten when Sarah Jane had called her that and could have laughed at the irony.

"I'm gonna have to tell her the truth." Rose told him, referring to her mum, "I can't keep lying to her."

She twisted her body round so she was facing him and delivered her sweetest smile and the eyes she knew for a fact would work like a charm if he were wearing his pinstripes and converse face, "Doctor?"

"What?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, not liking the gleam in her eyes at all, even if the smile she gave him was so lovely he wondered how it could be possibly aimed at him.

"Could, I, maybe," she played with a strand of hair come loose from her ponytail, "Show my mum the Tardis?"

He looked like she'd asked if her mother could move in with them, "You what?"

"Well, I need to tell her where I've been," Rose explained, "And the Tardis can back it all up. You can jump ahead a day or something to prove it travels in time. Just to help her understand."

She pointed a finger at him and smirked, "Besides, you made me miss a year. You owe me one."

He just scoffed at that, folding his arms huffily, "Well if it's so much trouble, you gonna stay here then?"

"No chance!" she immediately exclaimed, "After everything we've seen? Sorry, but you're not getting rid of me that easily." _It took an army of Daleks and Cybermen and getting dragged to another universe and even that didn't work permanently._

He grinned at her response, amused and she happily noted he didn't look in anyway displeased. Quite the opposite obviously.

She smirked at him again, "Still can't believe, she really slapped you."

He glowered, "Nine hundred years of space and time, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

She laughed at his expression, "Your face!"

"It hurt!"

"Oh bless you." she cooed happily, "Want me to kiss it better?" He gave her another one of his odd looks and she quickly changed the subject,

"Nine hundred years?"

He nodded, "It's my age."

"Nine hundred years old?" he nodded again and she flirtatiously eyed him in mock appraisal, "Well you're looking good for your age."

"I moisturise." He quipped, flirting back with her to her delight and she laughed.

"Oh yeah? Can I borrow it sometime? It's working well for ya." He grinned back at her and she enjoyed seeing him so, well, light, really. He was just grinning away with his daft grin from ear to ear and his eyes sparkling with mirth and she thought she might have fallen in love with him all over again in that moment.

"What's that like then?" she asked, her curiosity burning about a subject she'd always wondered about, "Living that long, you must have seen so much."

His easy smile grew into a grimace, and she recognized the lonely pain in his blue eyes as he tried to articulate his answer into something nonchalant, "Ah, it's alright. I've got the Tardis, so I'm never bored."

He swallowed thickly and looked avoided her eyes, looking ahead as he said, "Suppose it can seem a bit too long at times."

Surprised that he'd even admitted that, Rose twisted her mouth as she teasingly reminded him, "Well just think, if you hadn't lived this long, you might never've met me." She grinned, poking out her tongue, "And then where would you be?"

He barked a laugh then mockingly pondered her question.

"Oi!" she laughed with him, pleased she'd been able to chase off his dark thoughts and he laughed back at her reaction.

A horn blared, startling them both from their joking as the spaceship appeared above their heads. Both ducking, they watched as it headed towards the city, trailing black smoke behind it as with a nasty back-fire and some sputtering, it went pitching into the Thames after taking out Big Ben.

"Think I've found the reason we're twelve months late." Rose commented.

She smirked as the Doctor said, "That's more like it." He tried to go off, clearly planning on heading towards the crash until Rose grabbed his hand, pulling him to a stop.

"Probably best not." At his confusion she explained, "Entire city will be getting gridlocked. We'll never make it to the crash site. They'll have all kinds swarming in, people I'm betting you wouldn't want to mix the Tardis with."

He grimaced, "Good point. What do you suggest then?"

She grinned, looping her arm through his and steered him towards the door that led back down to the main block, "Well Doctor, I think we'll have to go with the domestic approach and watch it on telly."

They re-entered the flat to find Jackie already watching the news. She looked up when they walked in, her eyes immediately zeroing in on Rose's arm that was still looped through the Doctor's so she pulled away and sat next to her mum on the couch, the Doctor taking the armchair.

"You seen this?" Jackie asked Rose incredulously, "They're saying a spaceship just crashed into Big Ben!"

"It did." Rose replied, "We were on the roof, it flew right over our heads."

"What were you doing up there?" Jackie asked, her head turning to glare at the Doctor, who was steadfastly ignoring them both as he turned up the volume, focusing on the news report.

"Just talking." Rose said quickly before asking the Doctor, "So, it was definitely a crash then?"

"Looks like." the Doctor remarked. Perfect crash-landing he thought, despite the niggling suspicion he felt at the back of his mind.

* * *

They kept the news on for the next few hours, despite Jackie complaining she'd wanted to watch Loose Women. She'd taken to pestering Rose about where she'd been travelling, who earned a snort of laughter from the Doctor when she mentioned spending Christmas in Cardiff.

Every news channel was reporting about the spaceship. The public was being urged not to panic as the country went on red alert, with helpline numbers being provided and authority reinforcements being drafted. Eventually Jackie's friend Ru Chan had turned up, and on seeing Rose had taken to scolding her for the remainder of the day for leaving her mother worrying for a whole year, and upon meeting the Doctor, scolding her even further for leaving for a man, which incited Jackie to start sniping again, insisting she wouldn't make the Doctor welcome.

Both the Doctor and Rose were staring at the telly, trying to drown out the natter of the two women. Rose accepted the tea her mum brought in for her, hiding her exasperated smile as she realized she'd deliberately missed out the Doctor. Rose knew it was her mother's not so subtle way of letting him know she didn't want him there. She'd returned from the kitchen with a coffee just in time to see him snap at the pair, asking them to be quiet.

She sat on the arm of the chair the Doctor sat in, handing him the coffee wordlessly and reaching for her own tea as they watched News 24, both blocking out her mum and Ru as more people began to gather in the flat.

Leaning down and lowering her voice, Rose asked, "Is the earth even meant to know about aliens yet?"

"Not all things are set in stone." he told her, "This is what I travel for, Rose. To see history happening right in front of us."

They'd continued watching as it was announced that a body had been found in the embankment. As Rose got distracted by the shock of familiar faces welcoming her home, and her mother started serving wine, the Doctor ended up squabbling with a toddler over the remote and Rose could tell he'd be taking off in a few minutes to go check out the body at Albion Hospital. She kept getting pestered over where she'd gotten her jacket, her boots, her jeans etc. and wished she'd just worn what she had originally. She understood why this Doctor didn't do domestic; despite her having more experience and in fact having grown up around most of these people, Rose hadn't been around a crowd like this in such a close environment in a long time. It had begun to get suffocating and she wished she could escape when the Doctor did, but knew she'd have to face Mickey and then get her mum to come out and see the Tardis when he came back.

Speaking of, the Doctor, Rose realized his armchair was empty, and quickly darted for the door, hoping she hadn't missed him, but just caught him on the stairwell. This had been a special moment for her; when he'd first given her her Tardis key.

"Oi mister," she called out, "And where might you be swanning off to?"

He started and whipped his head round in surprise, obviously having hoped to sneak away without notice, "Nowhere. Just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

Rose snorted, "They found a body in a spaceship, took it to Albion Hospital, and you're just wandering?"

"Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect." The Doctor grinned giddily.

She grinned back him, "Yep, I'm sure you're planning on staying away from that."

Before he could respond she told him, "It's fine. I'd rather come with to be honest but I need to stay with my mum. Just promise me you're coming back?"

He patted his jacket pockets down, "Tell you what-" he took the key out, handing it to her, as she clung to it like a lifeline, "Tardis key! Bout time you had one." He grinned at her, "See you later."

He swaggered off and Rose clutched the key in her fist for a moment, feeling the Tardis' ever present tingles even stronger and she choked back the emotion that rushed through her. Walking back to the flat, she darted into her old room before she could get accosted by another old friend wanting to welcome her back from her "bloody long holiday". The sight of her childhood bedroom was like a pleasant jolt as she took in the posters and photos covering the walls, her old bed and her vanity with makeup and hair products strewn about. Rooting through the jewellery box, the dancing ballerina with it's familiar music urging another feeling of nostalgia from her, she triumphantly exclaimed when she found what she was looking for. She strung the key onto the long chain, feeling a sense of calm fall over her when the chain rested around her neck, and the key next to her heart. Glancing over to the bedside table, she noted an empty mug that she couldn't remember being hers. Shrugging it off, Rose re-joined the party, making her way through the crowd to look for her mum who was currently regaling others with the story of Billy Crewe asking her out.

Rose settled into the armchair the Doctor had vacated, laughing quietly to herself as her mother kicked off a round of cheers for the Martians, looking up as she saw Mickey entering the room, staring at her like he'd seen a ghost. She grimaced at his expression, "Hi."

"Someone owes Mickey an apology." Ru Chan remarked.

"Yeah." Rose agreed, "I am sorry."

"Not you." Rose frowned, looking over at her mother who was shifting her eyes guiltily and Rose's heart sank. _Oh she didn't._

"Well it's not my fault. Be fair." Jackie exclaimed, "What was I supposed to think?"

* * *

"I told you I'd gone with a mate!" Rose admonished her mother once the women and Mickey had retreated to the somewhat privacy of the kitchen.

"Yeah, you made that one phone call!" Jackie argued, "While Mickey said the same but that you'd dumped him and he wouldn't tell me where you were or who you'd gone with!"

"Good job you did make that phone call." Mickey muttered darkly, "Otherwise she'd have had me arrested. You disappear, with one phone call to say you were with a mate, well the police haven't got anything to hold against me have they? But I still get her," he pointed to Jackie, "Whispering round the estate that I must've had something to do with it and that's why I wouldn't say who you were with! Pointing the finger, people whispering and accusing me, and all 'cos of you!"

Rose cringed; so much for making sure Mickey was clear, "Sorry. I wasn't supposed to be gone for so long. Blame the Doctor's driving."

"I waited for you Rose!" Mickey rebuked her, "Twelve months! Waiting for you and that Doctor to come back!"

"So you _did_ know about the Doctor?" Jackie piped up, "Why didn't you tell me?" Mickey closed the serving hatch where he had spotted people eavesdropping and Rose uncomfortably tugged on her jacket and chewed her lip. She hadn't really fixed anything at all here. _Good job Rose._

"Yeah, yeah. Why not, Rose? Huh? How could I tell her where you went?"

"Tell me now." Jackie demanded.

"I might as well, 'cos you're stuck here." Mickey took on a fairly smug tone, the one Rose had always hated, "The Doctor's gone. Just now. That box thing just faded away."

"No he hasn't, he's coming back." Rose rolled her eyes, already fed up with his jealous ex antics.

"Oh no." Mickey scoffed, "He's left you. Some boyfriend he turned out to be."

"Actually, no, he is coming back, he just went to check out that hospital." Rose pointed out before turning to Jackie, "Mum, there is something else I need to tell you. About where I've been."

Jackie's eyes widened at her serious tone, "What is it? Oh god, did he do something to you sweetheart? Is it like that stockem syndrome?"

"No!" Rose replied immediately, annoyed at the assumption, "He would never hurt me. Just, come with me."

She led them down to the street where she knew the Tardis would be materialising, glad she'd thought to grab her jacket as the cold night air bit at her. Mickey had kept up his smug tirade that the Doctor had taken off, and now that they were facing the alley where the Tardis had been parked earlier but was currently nowhere to be seen, he was positively triumphant, annoying Rose further.

"Listen, both of you." Rose turned to face them, "It's only been a few days for me. The Doctor'll be back in a moment and I can show you how."

Jackie looked stricken with confusion and fear at her daughter's words as Mickey crowed, "Oh, he's dumped you, Rose. Sailed off into space! How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it!"

Her temper decidedly more volatile since the last time she'd heard Mickey say this, Rose snapped at him, "No he has not, he's gonna be here in a moment so shut it!"

As if the Tardis had been waiting for that moment, the familiar wheezing and groaning sound came behind Rose and she smiled broadly, grabbing her mum to pull her out the way as the Tardis faded and flickered into view.

Keeping a hold of her mother's arm so she wouldn't run off Rose told her, "It's alright, you don't need to be afraid mum. Just come inside with me."

Jackie was stock still, staring at the blue box with her eyes and the hand that Rose hadn't taken covering her mouth in shock. As soon as the Tardis was solid, Rose moved forward, pushing the doors open, pulling Jackie along with her.

"Well how'd you do that then?" Jackie asked, still stunned and as she moved into the blue box at her daughter's request, she was struck dumb into silence as she took in the enormity of the interior.

"This is the Tardis, Mum." Rose explained, hopefully gently, "She travels in time and space. That's how it's only been a few days for me and the Doctor. Thank to his," she pointed over her shoulder at the man standing at the central column, "Driving skills."

"You still going on about that?" The Doctor asked over his shoulder, "Anyway, I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake." Rose joined him at the scanner, "I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben? _Come_ on, so I thought, let's go and have a look."

"My mum's here." Rose interrupted, the Doctor rolling his eyes in response. Mickey had by now walked into the Tardis, and stood with Jackie on the ramp, the pair of them casting disbelieving glances around the console room. Mickey obviously had been inside the Tardis once before, but Rose supposed for some others it took some getting used to.

"Oh wonderful." The Doctor groaned, "Don't you go making this place domestic." Rose just bumped his shoulder with her in response, looking back at the other pair in time to see it get too much for her mum who turned and fled back out the doors.

Rose grimaced at that, but turned back to look at the monitor while Mickey made his way closer to the Time rotor.

"You ruined my life Doctor!" Mickey accused, "They thought she was dead and I was getting the finger pointed at me 'cos I couldn't even tell them where she'd gone 'cos of you!"

"See, domestic!" The Doctor rolled his eyes, not even looking up from the scanner.

"I bet you don't even remember my name."

"Ricky."

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky."

"I think I know my own name."

"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?" the Doctor mocked.

"Alright, girls!" Rose interjected, glaring at the pair of them, "Put your handbags down! So that spaceship then?"

"Yep!" The Doctor transferred his attention back to the monitor, Rose leaning close to him as he explained about the pig-mermaid creature he'd encountered at the hospital.

"So if it's all a pack of lies, what was the point?" Rose questioned.

"Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert." Mickey pointed, skulking behind them trying to get a look at the scanner without being obvious about it.

"Good point!" The Doctor remarked, "So, what're they up to?" He fiddled with controls on the scanner, mumbling alien jargon to himself before retreating to under the grating, where Rose sat handing him tools when he asked and keeping an eye on Mickey who had taken to inspecting the various controls and handles on the Time Rotor in a daze. Luckily he didn't touch anything.

"So, what're you doing down there?" Mickey asked, coming to stand next to Rose, trying to peer under the grating where the Doctor was working.

"Ricky-" The Doctor started, his voice muffled around the sonic screwdriver.

"It''s Mickey."

"Ricky," he said pointedly, taking the sonic out of his mouth, "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent timeship, would you even begin to understand?"

Mickey shifted uncomfortably, "Suppose not."

"Shut it then." The Doctor told him cheerfully, replacing the sonic and returning to fiddling with some wiring as Rose shook her head at him and said, "Be nice."

Mickey huffed before dropping to sit next to Rose, "Some friend you've got."

"He's just winding you up." She replied before raising her voice slightly, "He does that." She giggled at his cursing as he bumped his head and moved the wrong wire, earning himself a small shock from the Tardis in warning.

Rose turned to Mickey, her expression genuinely apologetic, "I am really sorry."

"Okay." Mickey didn't believe her.

"I am though. We weren't supposed to be away for so long."

He shot a quick glance down towards the grating and lowered his voice so the Doctor wouldn't hear, "You said you'd be gone a year."

Inwardly kicking herself and trying not to let her eyes widen in the panic she was feeling, Rose forced the casual, collected expression on her face to stay put, "Really? That's odd. I didn't know."

_Why did I tell him that? Stupid!_

"Then why'd you say it?" his eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

Rose shrugged, hoping he bought her nonchalant act, "My head was a bit scrambled honestly. I probably meant to say week or something. I was only meant to be away for that long at the longest."

His previous anger rearing up, Mickey snapped at her though his tone was less harsh than earlier, "Everyday I looked. On every street corner, wherever I went, looking for a blue box for a whole year."

Rose bit her lip, grimacing, "It's only been a few days for us. Honestly, I told you it travels in time as well. I was supposed to be back twelve hours after I left. It's really only been a few days."

"Not enough time to miss me then?" His hopeful tone sent off warning bells in Rose's head as she recognized the look on his face. Still, she was pleased he had dropped it about her "be gone a year" comment.

"Well, like I said, it's only been a few days." she trailed off, feeling bad at his dejected look.

"Well I missed you."

She smiled. Mickey had always been sweet to her. He could be a prat when in a mood like earlier, but he was always good to Rose. He'd been a good mate to her after she lost the Doctor. When he'd moved past her and they no longer had those 'awkward exes' feelings, they'd been family to one another.

"Well, was there anyone else to take your mind off it?" She gave him a teasing smile, wondering if her mum had managed to convince everyone this time round that Mickey had murdered her.

"Gone out with Trisha Delaney a few times." He shrugged before quickly backtracking, "Nothing serious though! I didn't know when you were coming back. And now you are back, so are you gonna stay?"

Before Rose could tell him no the Doctor popped his head up, and climbed out of the grating, looking very 'Triumphant-Timelord'. "Got it! Ha, ha!" He darted over to the monitor, "Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of that spaceship." Rose jumped up to join him at the monitor, "Here we go. Hold on." He hit the side of the scanner, "Come on."

The trajectory popped up on the screen as the Doctor explained, "That's the spaceship on its way to Earth, see? Except." He looked closer, "Hold on. See? The spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed." He looked at Rose as the graphic on the screen followed his narrative.

"So it came from Earth?" Rose asked, the Doctor beaming at her, nodding, "Those aliens, they were already here? So, what they doing then?"

"That's right." The Doctor said, studying the graphic, "They've been here a while. Lets find out what they're up to."

* * *

The Doctor had taken to channel-hopping the monitor, bringing up the news channels, as he and Rose bent their heads together, him wanting to know if anything else had been discovered, Rose wondering how she might go about convincing the Doctor to bring vinegar with them to Downing Street.

"How many channels you get?" Mickey asked from behind them, coming closer to separate the two.

"All the basic packages." The Doctor moved away, folding his arms, rolling his eyes when Mickey asked if he got sport, "Yes I get the football."

Rose smirked at the pair of them before turning back to the screen to see the figures the Doctor said he knew, "UNIT!"

"United Nations Intelligence Taskforce." he informed, "Good people."

"Friends of yours?" she asked, smiling.

"Well, he's worked for them hasn't he." The Doctor's expression didn't sway, but Rose lifted her eyes in warning to Mickey, "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

"That's nice." The Doctor replied sarcastically, "Good boy Ricky."

"Any list that includes all the people he's saved would be at least a hundred times longer." Rose scolded, not noticing the Doctor glance at her, a little surprised. She then turned to him saying, "So, are you going to go and help them?"

"They wouldn't recognise me." he explained, moving around the Time rotor, fiddling with a few controls, "I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens." He pointed to himself looking at her, "We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover." She smirked at this as she thought what they'd be walking out to in a moment, "And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight."

"Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving." He told him as he and Rose made their way to the doors.

"Where to?" Mickey asked incredulously.

"The roads are clearing. Lets go and have a look at that spaceship."

The trio exited the Tardis, with a pair of blindingly bright spotlights immediately shining down on them, and the Doctor looked about to see military vehicles and police cars surrounding them.

"Do not move!" A voice from above in the helicopter ordered, "Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads!"

Mickey bolted immediately, Rose spotted her mother off to the side being held back by a couple of soldiers, even the two of them having trouble keeping her from fighting past them. Soldiers surrounded them, all holding guns they had pointed straight at the pair and the Doctor eventually looked up towards the helicopter, grinning.

"Raise your hands above your head! You are under arrest!"

"Take me to your leader." The Doctor called back, holding his hands up.

Rose choked back her laugh at his steadfast humour.

Smiling at him as she climbed into the police car, she commented, "This is a bit posh. I would've gotten arrested years ago if I knew it'd be like this."

"We're not being arrested," the Doctor told her, "We're being escorted!"

"Oh yeah?" She grinned, "Where to then?"

"Where do you think?" At her raised eyebrow he happily informed, "Downing Street."

He let out a shout of laughter, Rose returning his enthusiasm, "Blimey, escorted to 10 Downing Street. What do they want with you?"

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right." She smirked at him getting the name right when Mickey wasn't actually there, "Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, er, noticed. And like it said on the news. They're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He ended with a smug smile.

"Patrick Moore?" She smirked at his offended look.

"Apart from him."

"Oh, don't you just love it." She giggled as he told her about Lloyd George drinking him under the table. Now, a drunk Doctor was something she _had_ to get to see sometime. _And not a fake drunk Doctor with a tie round his head singing My Fair Lady after swanning off with a French royal._

"Who's the Prime Minister now?" the Doctor asked her, and she shrugged in response.

"I missed a year."

Pulling up to Downing Street, they spotted the flashes of cameras from paparazzi and the police cars stationed outside. Both exited the car and Rose giggled as the Doctor played up for the cameras, waving and the like as Rose noted a few familiar faces in the crowd as she walked up to the door. The Doctor joined, still grinning and waving as he joined her.

"Having fun?" she teased him, earning a grin in response as they were lead to a waiting room where Rose was able to note a few more familiar faces. She looked around when she saw Harriet Jones enter the room, flashing her ID badge at the soldier on the door and moving the crowd in a clear effort not to be noticed. Rose bit back a smile before leaning up to whisper in the Doctor's ear,

"They probably won't let me go in there with you."

"Well tough." he said, "You're staying with me. I don't want another slap from your mother because I left Miss Jeopardy-friendly on her own."

She scowled at him playfully, "It's fine, really. Besides," she surreptitiously pointed out Harriet in the crowd, "That woman looks a bit on edge. I can talk to her while you're in there. Find out if she or anyone else knows anything."

He raised an impressed eyebrow, grinning at her, "Proper little Detective Tyler, aren't we?"

She grinned back, flirting, "Yep. Lewis, that's me."

"Alright Lewis." he sighed, "If you insist."

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?" A man joined the group in the waiting room to announce, " Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right, and can I remind you ID cards are to be worn at all times."

He walked up to the Doctor, handing him his ID card, "I'm sorry, but your companion doesn't have clearance."

The Doctor still looked like he wanted to argue so Rose laid her hand on his shoulder, "That's fine. I'll be alright."

Harriet chose that moment to interrupt, "Excuse me, are you the Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded, and Rose was distracted from the man speaking to Harriet when the Doctor turned to her, asking if she was sure about him leaving her.

"Yes, you said experts, you should go in there, and I won't understand half of what they're saying." Rose insisted, which would have been true originally. Now, she was more than capable of understanding, but then the Doctor couldn't know that.

"Okay." he said softly, "I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." He walked of and the man whom Rose now recognized as the man who Blon had killed took her arm, explaining he'd have to leave her with security.

Harriet approached them both again, "It's all right. I'll look after her. Let me be of some use." The man shrugged, allowing it and walking off. Harriet smiled at Rose who broadly returned it, walking with her.

"Harriet Jones" She showed her badge, "MP Flydale North." Seeming surprised as Rose spoke the latter with her and Rose grinned again at the familiar face. Last time she'd seen Harriet, the Doctor had effectively set in motion her resignation from office but Rose remembered the woman's bravery and concern for her mother being alone on this night when there'd been a very real possibility they could all die.

"Yeah, I know who you are." Rose followed her into the entrance hall, "You wanted to speak to the Doctor? Now, tell me what's going on?"

Harriet seemed surprised by Rose immediately grasping the situation, but her surprise gave way to her horror at what she had seen and she burst into tears. Rose put an arm around her, consoling the distraught woman as best she could while steering her towards where she thought the Cabinet room was.

"It's alright." she consoled Harriet, "Just take a deep breath. Just explain what happened."

When Harriet recollected herself, apologizing politely for her distress, she asked Rose to follow her, and lead them both to the Cabinet room, where she showed her the skin suit hidden in the cupboard.

"They turned the body into a suit." Harriet told her, explaining about the aliens she'd seen masquerading as Political figures earlier, "A disguise for the thing inside!"

"It's alright, I believe you." Rose assured her. "It is definitely alien, it'll be the aliens who crashed that ship." She moved toward the cupboard, grimacing as she pulled it open and jumped back before the man's body could fall on her.

Harriet joined her, looking over the body in horror. Rose straightened as the man from earlier stormed into the room,

"Harriet, for God's sake. This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander-" He noticed the body on the floor, "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

Harriet nodded solemnly at him as Rose noticed the other familiar woman stepping into sight, smirking viciously at them. Rose glared in response to Blon's simpering question,

"Oh, has someone been naughty?"

She stepped into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. The man turned to look back at the body on the floor, frowning,

"That's impossible. He left this afternoon." He turned back to the woman, "The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"

Blon walked closer, her voice lowering dangerously, "And who told you that? Hm?"

She gave that awful, gleeful smile, proudly saying, "Me."

She smirked at them all, reaching up to her hairline to show the zip embedded into the skin. Blue light began flashing in the room and Rose stepped forward, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him to stand behind her as they three watched, the other two in horror, Rose in mild disgust, as the alien started to wriggle out of her skin suit, flexing her three long talon-like fingers in relief.

Across the city, Jackie Tyler entered her living room to see the same sight of a Slitheen wriggling out of it's skin suit, it's large black eyes blinking menacingly at her.

In the Briefing room of 10 Downing Street, the Doctor had watched as the Slitheen wearing Asquith's skin proudly presented and named itself.

"Thank you all for wearing your ID cards." Green smirked, "They'll help to identify the bodies."

He held up a remote activation switch, and upon pressing it, the ID cards emitted electric shocks to all wearers, including the Doctor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor who or any of its characters.   
> Early post because I've gone and tried rewriting my Dalek chapter after getting a new idea for it and it's winding me up now trying to finish it.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> World War Three rewrite

_She smirked at them all, reaching up to her hairline to show the zip embedded into the skin. Blue light began flashing in the room and Rose stepped forward, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him to stand behind her as they three watched, the other two in horror, Rose in mild disgust, as the alien started to wriggle out of her skin suit, flexing her three long talon-like fingers in relief._

_Across the city, Jackie Tyler entered her living room to see the same sight of a Slitheen wriggling out of it's skin suit, it's large black eyes blinking menacingly at her._

_In the Briefing room of 10 Downing Street, the Doctor had watched as the Slitheen wearing Asquith's skin proudly presented and named itself._

" _Thank you all for wearing your ID cards." Green smirked, "They'll help to identify the bodies."_

_He held up a remote activation switch, and upon pressing it, the ID cards emitted electric shocks to all wearers, including the Doctor._

Ripping off his ID badge, the Doctor staggered to his feet, the electricity now centred in the hand that held the badge. His face red with the exertion of holding off the pain that spiked his every nerve ending, he glared at Green as the the alien wearing a man's skin eyed him warily,

"Deadly to humans, maybe." the Doctor choked out before stepping forward, holding the ID badge up. He pushed it against the collar around the neck of the revealed Slitheen, causing the shock waves to envelop both the Slitheen and Green, both of whom contorted and screamed with the pain of having their own devices used against them.

Springing into action immediately, the Doctor ran from the room, heading towards the entrance hall where he found the large group of armed police.

"Oi! If you want aliens, you've got them." He told them, "They're inside Downing Street! Come on!" He clapped his hands, leading them back to the briefing room.

* * *

"RUN!"

Rose pulled at both Harriet and the man, whose name she really needed to find out, and they took off at her cry as the Slitheen was suddenly enveloped in electricity, incapacitating it, though Rose knew that wouldn't last for long.

She ran through the rooms with the other two when Harriet stopped them, mentioning something about the emergency protocols and tried to go back. Rose shared a look with the man and they each grabbed a hand, pulling Harriet along with them,

"Emergency protocols won't be any use if you get killed!" Rose pointed out.

She ran with the two of them, hearing the Slitheen as she tore after them.

"What's your name by the way?" she directed at the man.

"Indra Ganesh." he told her as they ran through the corridors.

"Nice to meet ya Indra Ganesh." she smiles.

"Likewise." he smiles back before briefly looking over his shoulder to see the Slitheen racing after them at a surprising rate for it's size, smashing through the oak doors of the previous corridor they'd ran through.

He gave a shout of terror and Rose sneaked a look over her shoulder.

* * *

The Doctor re-entered the briefing room with the armed men just as Green had finished helping Asquith back into his skin suit, effectively hiding the Slitheen from sight.

"Where have you been?" Green demanded of the police officers, "I called for help. I sounded the alarm." The officers took to checking the bodies of those humans who had been unfortunate enough to be wearing the shock-inducing ID badges as the Doctor stood, watching Green as he continued, "There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed!"

"I think they're all dead." One policeman spoke up, looking at Green.

"That's what I'm saying." Green stated, stepping forward before turning to point at the Doctor, "He did it! That man there!"

_Oh there's a surprise_ the Doctor thought before directing his statement to the policeman, "I think you'll find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise-"

He cut off, making a face then turning his head to the officer nearest, "That's never gonna work, is it?"

"No."

"Fair enough." And he took off running.

* * *

The trio ran into a large cavernous room and stopped for breath as Rose remembered they would be needing vinegar to fend off the Slitheen.

"Strange question. But does this place have a kitchen?" She asked them both, earning an 'are you kidding' look from both.

"Strange time to stop for a snack." Indra commented.

"I just mean, that there might be something there we can use to defend ourselves." she tried to explain, feeling defensive.

"In a kitchen?" His eyebrows shot up.

Before she could reply, she heard the stomping footsteps of the Slitheen nearing and the screech tearing from her throat. They ran throughout the first floor, Rose halting, the other two behind her as she spotted the Slitheen just across, standing in front of the lift.

She darted behind the Slitheen when she seemed distracted, leading Harriet and Indra into the living room, ushering them in first when she heard the Doctor shout "Hello!" and she turned to see him in the lift, smiling broadly at the Slitheen he was distracting so that she could get past. She grinned at him before ducking into the sitting room, closing the door firmly behind her and seeing Indra and Harriet standing in the centre of the room, looking terrified and plan-less.

"Hide!" She told them, knowing none of the other doors worked. At least the Doctor would be along in minute with his fire extinguisher.

She and Indra both hid behind the large drinks cabinet as Harriet ducked behind the screen. Rose turned, and raised her head slowly, peeking over the drinks cabinet, ignoring Indra hissing at her to get down as she cast her eyes about for anything she could use as a weapon. Aside from a few ornaments in carefully selected spots across the room, there was nothing except the curtains and a lamp that would be even halfway useful, which made Rose huff. _Honestly, what good is that?_

She told Indra to get behind one curtain as she hid behind the other, both of them freezing as they heard the Slitheen enter the room.

"Ohhh, such fun!" Margeret the Slitheen cooed, "Little human children, where are you?"

Rose grimaced at the sickly sweet tone of voice the woman affected as Margeret continued, "Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips."

Rose met Indra's eyes and smiled encouragingly at him when she saw his fear etched out plainly. They heard the other two Slitheen join Margaret as she crooned with delight over her hunt.

"I can smell an old girl." One of the male Slitheen said, "Stale bird and brittle bones."

"And a male." said the other, "Youthful and full of vigour."

"And a ripe youngster." Margaret's voice came closer, "All hormones and adrenaline. Fresh enough to bend before she snaps."

The curtain was pulled away and Rose held her breath, staring up at the Slitheen. Indra sprung into action, pulling the curtain down over Margaret-Slitheen's head as Harriet leapt from her hiding place.

"No! Take me first! Take me!"

Indra grabbed Rose's arm, pulling her away from Margeret as the Doctor burst into the room with his fire extinguisher, immediately taking out the two in front of him as Rose, Indra and Harriet darted behind him.

"Who the hell are you?" the Doctor directed at Indra, trying to keep his thoughts away from the male's hand lingering on Rose's arm. _Time and a place and all that._

"Indra Ganesh." he answered, "Junior secretary."

"Harriet Jones. MP Flydale North."

"Nice to meet you." he told them.

"Likewise." They answered in unison.

Blasting the fire extinguisher again until the CO2 was used, as Rose opened the door, waiting for him to join her as they legged it from the room. He grabbed her hand as they ran,

"Having fun then Lewis?"

"All in a days work Serge!" he laughed with her as they followed Harriet and Indra throughout the corridors.

They made it to the Cabinet room after Harriet stated that's where the emergency protocols were located, the Doctor sonicing the door open just as the Slitheen tore down the corridor following them. They rushed inside, the Doctor spotting the creatures advancing towards them from the main doorway. He grabbed a decanter from the side table as the three Slitheen made their way closer, holding up his sonic screwdriver threateningly,

"One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off!"

The creatures paused then stepped back, taking in his threat and he relaxed, "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens." Harriet pointed out nervously.

"Yes, I got that thanks."

"Who are you if not human?" Green-Slitheen asked curiously.

"Who's not human?" Harriet asked Rose.

"He's not human." she gestured towards the Doctor.

"He's not human?" Indra piped up.

"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor frowned over his shoulder.

"Sorry."

The Doctor turned back to the Slitheen, "So, what's the plan?"

"But he's got a Northern accent." Harriet said to Rose, who answered, "Lots of planets have a north."

" I said hush. Come on." The Doctor remarked, "You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"

"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" Asquith-Slitheen scoffed.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?"

"The Slitheen race?"

"Doctor," Rose laid her hand on his arm to get his attention, "Earlier in the other room, they called each other brother and sister. I think they're a family."

"Slitheen is our surname." Green-Slitheen confirmed, "Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service. A family business."

"Then you're out to make a profit." The Doctor realized, "How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?"

"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what?" Asquith-Slitheen asked, "Triplicate the flammability?"

"Is that what I said?" The Doctor gave an uncomfortable smile.

"You're making it up."

"Ah, well! Nice try." He shrugged, holding the decanter behind him, "Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it."

Clutching the red box with the emergency protocols Harriet told him, "You pass it to the left first." as Rose moved round the Doctor to where the small panel hiding the button was located.

"Sorry." The Decanter was instead passed to Indra.

"Thanks." he said, making the Doctor frown as he'd been intending Rose, thinking she was right behind him, and he caught her out of the corner of his eye, her hand above the panel. _How did she know it was there?_

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." The Slitheen crowed.

"Shouldn't we be running now?" Indra suggested.

"No need." Rose announced, lifting the panel by the door and pressing the button which activated the metal shutters to crash shut across all the windows and doors in the room. She gave a wave goodbye to the Slitheen before the metal shutters hid them from view, beaming as she turned to the incredulous Doctor.

"How'd you know to do that?" The Doctor eyebrows were drawn together in surprise.

"Don't say thanks or anything." Rose teased while wracking her brain for excuses. She hadn't really thought in all honesty, just acted almost on autopilot.

"Well, yeah fantastic." He grinned at her, "Still, how'd you know?"

She just shrugged, "Think I remember reading it in a history book. Installed in 1991?"

He gave her a questioning glance before seemingly brushing it off, smiling, "That's right. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."

"Although," Rose tugged at her jacket cuff, "How we gonna get out?"

Realizing that particular flaw, the Doctor gave a short nod, grimacing, "Ah."

Rose watched the Doctor as he took out the sonic, scanning the metal shutters. She scanned the room for anything of use, but like before, all antique.

"What are you doing to the doors?" Indra asked from the table where he sat with Harriet.

"Sonicing them." The Doctor answered simply and Rose bit back a smile at his tone.

The junior secretary frowned at the cryptic answer before turning to Rose, who was still trying to pull open drawers to find anything she could use while her mind worked at warp-speed, trying to think of a way she could speed up the progress of events.

"Thank you." Indra said to her, continuing when she looked up in surprise, "For saving my life."

She gave a friendly smile, "It's no problem. Thanks for saving mine."

He looked about to say something when Rose turned to the Doctor, "So, they killed the Prime Minister instead of using his skin. Is it because he isn't big enough or something?"

He gave her an impressed grin, pleased she'd worked it out, "That's right. He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."

"But they're huge." Indra pointed out, "They're at least eight feet, I'm sure, how could they fit inside a human body?"

"That's the device around their necks. Compression field." The Doctor explained as he walked about the room, continuing to sonic the metal shutters and Rose assumed he was deadlocking the steel or something, "Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange."

Rose snorted, "Wish I had a compression field. I could fit a size smaller."

"Excuse me," Harriet admonished her, offended, "People are dead! This is not the time to be making jokes!"

Rose shrugged, not as apologetic this time, "Sorry, I'm sort of used to this stuff."

"Well that's a strange life you lead." Harriet remarked.

"Yep." Rose said, popping the p, "Strange and brilliant." She shared a grin with the Doctor, though he wondered how she _was_ already used to it.

"Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before." The Doctor noted, looking at the woman, "Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?"

Harriet scoffed lightly, "Oh, hardly."

"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?" Rose smiled as he tried to work out how he knew her, clearly wracking his big Timelord brain. _Bless._

"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid," Harriet said, "And a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all dead downstairs."

"Where would we get defence codes?" Rose asked her before suggesting, "We could launch a nuclear bomb at them."

"You're a very violent young woman." Harriet commented.

"Yeah okay, we'll ask them to leave nicely then and I'm sure they'll just pop off back on their spaceships." Rose replied sarcastically.

"You won't find any defence codes in there, I'm afraid." Indra cut in before Harriet could respond, "The release codes for nuclear strikes are kept secret by the United Nations."

"Say that again." The Doctor stopped in his scanning to join them at the table.

"What, about the codes?" Harriet asked.

"Anything." He urged, "All of it."

"Well," she articulated her words, "The British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN."

"Like that's ever stopped them." Rose scoffed.

"Exactly, given our past record." Harriet looked back at her before gesturing her hands emphatically as she said, "And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN." She turned to the Doctor, "Is it important?"

"Everything's important." he said.

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted." Harriet said, "Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."

"Try hanging with him for a day or two." Rose joked as she gestured to the Doctor, "But the Slitheen, they're a family, like they said, a family business. Out to make a profit. So there's something on earth that they want."

"But like what, gold?" Harriet suggested, "Oil? Water?"

The Doctor grinned at them both, "You're very good at this."

Rose bit her lip smiling as Harriet answered, "Thank you."

"Harriet Jones. Why do I know that name?" The Doctor frowned.

Rose's phone beeped in her pocket, "Oh, that's me."

"But we're sealed off." Indra exclaimed, "How did you get a signal?"

Rose glanced up, nodding towards the Doctor, "It's a super phone. The Doctor soniced it for me."

"Then we can phone for help!" Harriet said turning to the Doctor, "You must have contacts."

"Dead downstairs, yeah." He stated.

"It's Mickey."

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." The Doctor rolled his eyes as Rose walked towards him.  
"Ex-boyfriend." She elbowed him softly, "And look what he sent us." She held up her phone with the photo Mickey had sent of the Slitheen, "Not so stupid after all."

Mickey was speaking away on the phone about the Slitheen attacking them, and Rose heard her mum speaking in the background.

"You're both alright though?" she asked, not receiving a reply before the Doctor took her phone from her hands.

"Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer."

Rose sidled up to stand next to him, not hearing Mickey's reply but grinning and uttering a soft laugh at the Doctor's expression as he said, "Mickey the idiot; I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but er, I need you." He gave Rose a quick warning glance but she simply grinned at him, her tongue poking through her teeth and her eyes sparkling with mirth.

The Doctor directed Mickey to the UNIT website as Harriet poured them all a drink in the background from the decanters having told Rose she thought now was a good a time as many to make use of it. Indra sat reading through the emergency protocols in case something had been missed. The Doctor plugged the phone into the conference phone speakers when Mickey asked for the password, "Say again."

"It's asking for the password." Mickey's voice came through the speakers.

"Buffalo. Two F's. One L."

"So what's that website?" They heard Jackie ask.

"All the secret information known to mankind." They heard Mickey tell her, "See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark."

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor rolled his eyes, Rose bumping his shoulder.

"Oh, leave him alone."

"Thank you. Password again."

"Just repeat it every time."

"Big Ben. Why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?" The Doctor walked around the table, pacing.

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Indra commented, accepting a brandy glass from Harriet.

"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. " The Doctor pointed out, "You don't need to crash land in the middle of London."

"So they must need the country on red alert, then." Rose said, "It's not about killing important political figures, they just did that anyway. They need everyone watching, what for?"

"Oh listen to her." Jackie's sarcasm was heard clearly over the speaker phone and Rose rolled her eyes,

"Hey, at least I'm trying."

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind." Jackie stated, "Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth."

"That's not his fault." Rose told her, "And I told you that was an accident."

"I'm talking to him." Jackie snapped, "'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor."

Rose watched as his face hardened and he clenched his jaw at her mother's words.

"And maybe you get off on it," Jackie continued, "And maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me, just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?"

"Mum, I'm really fine."

" _Is_ she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?"

"You can't put that on him." Rose argued, "Mum, I could just as easily be in danger here at home than I could be anywhere else. I could get hit by a car crossing the street for god's sake. At least when I'm with him I'm actually happy and I get the chance to do something good."

"I want _his_ answer!" Jackie insisted, and Rose looked up to see the Doctor staring at her unflinchingly. She held his gaze, seeing the shock in his expression at her defence before the silence was broken by Mickey.

"We're in."

Breaking his eyes from hers and springing into action, the Doctor made his way round the table to speak directly to the phone, "Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that."

"What is it?"

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal." The Doctor explained, frowning, "Now hush, let me work out what it's saying."

They heard Mickey hush Jackie over the speaker as the Doctor's frowned deepened, "It's some sort of message."

"Can you work out what it's saying?" Rose bit her lip, knowing the conclusion they would reach and preferring to just get it over with.

"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating."

The Doctor hushed Mickey as they heard his doorbell ringing over the speaker.

"That's not me." Mickey's voice was muffled as he said, "Go and see who that is."

Rose thought she heard her mother comment, but couldn't work out what was said, but it hit her like a bolt of lightening, and she rushed forward to the speaker,

"No! Don't answer the door! Mum, Mickey, stay where you are!"

_"What's wrong?"_ Mickey asked as the Doctor said, "It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" He then glanced up to see a pale-faced Rose and frowned in confusion. They heard Jackie calling to Mickey a few moments later, "It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slickeen!"

_"They've found us."_

"Mickey, I need that signal." The Doctor told him.

"Then we figure out a way to stop that thing." Rose said, "Now."

_"Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us."_

"We need to work out their weakness." Rose spoke pointedly to the Doctor, "So how do we do that?"

"We need to find out where they're from. Which planet." The Doctor paced around the table, "So, judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

"They're green." Indra suggested.

"Yep, narrows it down!"

"The pig technology." Harriet suggested.

"Narrows it down!"

"The way they smell!" Rose immediately suggested uncaring of suspicions right now, "When they fart, it's like bad breath!"

"Calcium decay!" The Doctor grinned, "Yes, that narrows it down!"

"We're getting there, Mum!"

"It's getting in!" Mickey called back.

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium." The Doctor thought out loud, "Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

"Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter." They heard Mickey's sarcastic grumbling.

"Get into the kitchen!" The Doctor told them.

They heard the two over the phone as the scrambled into the kitchen, with the sound of the front door being splintered making Rose flinch. She knew they'd be fine, but it didn't affect her any less.

"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" The Doctor exclaimed excitedly.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet said.

"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

"How should I know?"

"It's your kitchen." The Doctor reminded him.

"Look in the cupboards, there should be some there." Rose told him, unable to remember exactly where.

"Oh, give it here." She heard her mum's voice as she took the phone, "What do you need?"

"Anything with vinegar!" The Doctor told her.

They waited with baited breath as Jackie rooted through Mickey's cupboards, "Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions! Pickled eggs!"

"And you kiss this man?" The Doctor asked Rose.

"Not anymore." she shot back.

They listened as the Slitheen broke through the door, heard crashing as the door was torn down and the Slitheen's thundering bellow at Jackie and Mickey before it stopped. They heard it fart then everything was silent, and Rose breathed a sigh of relief that her mum was safe.

"Hannibal?" Indra questioned beside her, breaking the silence.

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders" Harriet explained, pleased, "With vinegar."

Rose laughed in joy, letting her head fall forward before she straightened, lifting her glass in a toast, which encouraged the others to do the same. They toasted to Hannibal, Rose missing the scowl the Doctor shot Indra when he clinked his glass with Rose's.

* * *

Rose stood off to the side with the Doctor, both of them enjoying the companionable silence as their own thoughts troubled them. The Doctor was wracking his brain for an alternative solution that wouldn't involve him having to in anyway bring harm to Rose Tyler, to no avail. Rose, meanwhile, was frowning as she fought off a migraine. She knew she'd probably said a few things that could incite the Doctor's suspicion and knew she'd need to tone it down and emphasize the naïve shop girl she was supposed to be over the next few days at least. She sighed, reaching up to release her hair from the ponytail, letting it fall back around her face, not noticing the Doctor's eyes widening or the way he swallowed distractedly.

Both of them broke from their thoughts as Mickey spoke up to alert them of the Slitheen masquerading as an MP to the world and announcing that weapons of mass destruction had been discovered in the skies and that planet Earth was at war, pleading with the United Nations to give them the access codes as the Doctor scoffed in ridicule, immediately pointing out the blatant lie. Agitated and confused over their intentions, he paced up and down while he spoke,

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked worriedly.

"They did last time." Rose pointed out.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle." The Doctor realized, "They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." He walked round the table toward the main exit, the other three following.

"They release the defence code-"

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor finished.

"But why?"

The Doctor didn't answer, just pressed the button beneath the panel to open the metal shutters, revealing three naked Slitheen waiting for them.

"You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there." The Doctor said darkly, "You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked."

Margaret had appeared, back in her skin suit as she smirked at the Doctor, walking forward.

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away."

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place." Harriet asked, horrified, "What for?"

"Profit." The Doctor's tone scorned the word, "That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert."

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece." Margeret mocked, "Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"At the cost of five billion lives." The Doctor's anger rolling off him in waves.

"Bargain."

"I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you."

Margeret and the other Slitheen laughed, her girlish giggles irritating to Rose, "What, you? Trapped in your box?"

Rose could see the glare he wore when others proclaimed him to be the Oncoming Storm as he declared, "Yes. Me."

Margaret's laughter faded as she took in the Doctor's expression before he pressed the button to activate the metal shutters again. He turned, storming to the opposite side of the room and Rose didn't follow, knowing he needed space to collect himself. He knew the way to stop the Slitheen, she knew, but she also remembered the look in his eye last time, and how much it had hurt him to have to willingly put her in danger.

Indra and Harriet took to brainstorming of ways out of this whole mess, but eventually the room grew all seemed to fall into a despondent slump, clearly beginning to feel hopeless of surviving. Rose glanced at the Doctor after a while, deciding that if she was going to give him that push he needed, best do it now.

She stood, stretching, and walked over to him, placing a hand on his leather-clad arm, "Is there a way out of this Doctor?"

He looked at her, his eyes blazing in that familiar gaze that might make his enemies cower and run but only drew her in deeper. Her skin prickled with the sudden energy she felt and she couldn't possibly look away when he trapped her with his eyes like that.

"There's always been a way out."

"Then we use it." Rose said firmly.

"Ah, but you see," The Doctor smiled bitterly, before moving round her to speak to the phone, "I don't know if I can keep your daughter safe."

"Don't you dare." Jackie replied immediately having heard him, "Whatever it is, don't you dare."

"That's the thing, if I don't dare, everyone dies."

"Then do it." Rose told him softly.

He turned to face her his lips curling up just barely, "You don't even know what it is, you'd just let me?"

She took his hand and smiled, "Yes."

He could have staggered back from the weight of the faith he was seeing in her eyes. How could this girl, who'd known him for a matter of days, be able to look at him as though she trusted him more than anyone?

"Please. Doctor, please. She's my daughter, she's just a kid."

"Oh, but she's so much more." The Doctor murmured before raising his voice so Jackie could hear him, his blue eyes still not leaving Rose's brown, "But this is my life Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."

"Then do it." Rose told him, squeezing his hand, "What are you waiting for?"

The pain in his eyes nearly crippled her, "I could save the world but lose you." Rose knew she should be speaking here to persuade him, but she could just barely catch her breath at the intense look in his eye. He eventually broke eye contact to acknowledge Harriet when she spoke to him,

"Except it's not your decision. It's mine."

"And who the hell are you?" Jackie's irate voice asked.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale." the woman answered, "The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people, for the people, and on behalf of the people I command you." She looked sternly at the Doctor, "Do it!"

Indra stood behind her, offering his agreement and the Doctor glanced between the two of them before looking back down at Rose who gave him as reassuring a smile as she could muster and nodded.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked the Doctor as he turned to sit himself back at the table, flicking through the emergency protocol.

"Mickey, you're gonna have to hack into the Royal Navy." he spoke to the phone, "Use the buffalo password, it overrides everything."

"We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth."

"Right, we need to select a missile." The Doctor said.

"We can't go nuclear, we don't have the defence codes." Mickey argued.

"We don't need them." The Doctor insisted. "All we need's an ordinary missile."

He waited a beat before asking, "What's the first category?"

"Sub Harpoon, UGM-A4A."

"That's the one. Select."

"You ready for this?" The Doctor asked him.

"Yeah."

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands." He told him, "Fire."

They heard a cry of "Oh, my God." from Jackie and glanced between one another at the confirmation Mickey had clicked the button.

Indra took to knocking against the metal shutters, "Just how solid are these?"

"Not solid enough." The Doctor answered, "Built for short range attack, nothing this big."

Glancing about to where the cupboard was located, Rose grinned, "No problem. I'm making a decision now. We aren't dying today!" She shot them all a beaming smile before springing towards the cupboard, "We're going to ride this one out. It's like what they say about earthquakes. You can survive them by standing under a door-frame." She began to remove items from the cupboard, explaining as she went as the other three looked on in astonishment, "Now, this cupboard's small so it's strong. Come and help me! Come on!"

Harriet and Indra immediately sprang into action, helping her in emptying the cupboard as the Doctor stared, slightly stunned he hadn't thought of it himself, and once again feeling a rush of pride at her ingenuity.

"It's on radar." Mickey told them, "Counter defence five five six."

"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor instructed him as the other continued clearing the cupboard.

"I'm doing it now."

"Good boy."

"Five five six neutralised." Mickey informed.

The Doctor grinned, feeling Rose's hand grab his and pull him towards the cupboard where Harriet and Indra stood together, waiting. They all darted inside, huddling into the corner of the cupboard with the two men sat together, Rose on the Doctor's other side and Harriet on Indra's. They all grasped hands, and almost as a last thought the Doctor wrapped his arm around Rose, pulling her to him. He pressed his lips to her forehead and she revelled in feeling him so close, inhaling his scent.

"Nice knowing you all." Harriet cried, "Hannibal!"

The missile hit Downing Street and the room rocked and they all crashed together, holding tightly to one another as it seemed like the earth itself shook. The Doctor's arm stayed wrapped around Rose, and they closed their eyes, waiting for the storm to pass.

And eventually it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> World War Three:pt 2

_The missile hit Downing Street and the room rocked and they all crashed together, holding tightly to one another as it seemed like the earth itself shook. The Doctor's arm stayed wrapped around Rose, and they closed their eyes, waiting for the storm to pass._

_And eventually it did._

Kicking the steel door open, the Doctor poked his head out to survey the damage. 10 Downing Street had been blown to bits, and as Rose, Harriet and Indra joined him on the site of the wreckage, he thought them very lucky to be alive.

Well, he glanced in her direction, lucky that Rose was quick-thinking and had worked out a way to protect themselves.

"Made in Britain." Harriet declared and he gave a grin at the woman's cheer.

They were approached by the young officer he recognized from earlier, "Oh, my God. Are you all right?"

Harriet stepped forward immediately, badge in hand, "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on," she urged him, "tell the news."

"Yes, ma'am." The officer's eyes widened and he set about to follow her orders.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." Harriet commented looking about the debris, "Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister."

"Maybe you should have a go." The Doctor suggested slyly, his memory clicking into place as the name that had been niggling at him finally made sense.

"Me?" Harriet's eyes widened comically, "Huh. I'm only a back-bencher."

"I'd vote for you." Rose assured her.

"You have my full support, ma'am." Indra told her, smiling.

The older woman looked between the two of them before shaking her head lightly, "Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." She made her way through the pile of rubble towards the crowd of authorities and paparazzi, "Hang on!"

"We're safe! The Earth is safe!" She cried.

"I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister." The Doctor told Rose, "Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age."

Indra turned to face them, his face painted with confusion at the Doctor's words but he chose not to question it, only smile broadly at the pair of them, though the Doctor wasn't blind to the way his eyes kept flicking to Rose.

"I best go and help as well, "he said "Thank you again, lovely meeting you both."

"You too." Rose replied, happy she'd been able to save the man's life.

"See ya." The Doctor grinned broadly as the man turned away to stumble his way through the rubble towards Harriet.

Harriet Jones stood tall as she proudly declared to the officers, soldiers and reporters, "The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race!"

Rose turned to the Doctor, worrying her lower lip as a memory hit her, "Doctor? Shouldn't we check to make sure all the Slitheen are gone?"

He turned to her, frowning at the worry on her face, "What do you mean? We hit the place with a nuclear bomb, they'll all be gone."

"But we survived." She pointed out, "What if one of them did too?"

She was hoping that she could save them the trouble of having to deal with Margeret once they got to Cardiff, but the Doctor surveyed the rubble that was once 10 Downing Street, with a hint of scepticism in his features.

"They couldn't have survived that." He assured her, "We're safe because of your quick-thinking, but they wouldn't have had the chance to find a cupboard to ride it out in. They'd have all been out in the open when it hit."

Rose couldn't help but to grimace uncomfortably, knowing he was wrong, but as he was dead certain, and now pulling her away from the wreckage, she knew she'd have to let it go. Later, once the Doctor and Rose had made their way back to the Powell estate, and Rose had finally been able to get her mum to release her from the tight hug she'd been captured in as soon as she set foot through the door, they sat in their living room watching Harriet make her public announcements of Earth's victory on TV.

_"-Mankind stands proud."_

"Harriet Jones, who does she think she is?" Jackie remarked, "Look at her, taking all the credit. Should be you on there."

"My daughter saved the world!" she directed this last part towards the television and Rose bit back a smile.

"I think credit can go to the Doctor as well."

"All right, then. Him too." Jackie admitted, "You should be given knighthoods."

 _We will be._ "That isn't what he helps for."She told her mum, "He doesn't like a fuss, he moves on once it's over. He's not bad if you gave him a chance."

"He's good in a crisis, I'll give him that." Jackie relented.

Rose laughed as she said, "Wow, world must be ending if you're saying nice thing about him."

"Well, I reckon I've got no choice. There's no getting rid of him since you're in love with him."

Rose's eyes widened comically and her head snapped round to face her mother. It was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but her mum was giving her 'the look'. The one that said in no uncertain terms that her mother wouldn't be buying any rubbish Rose tried to sell her and expected total and complete honesty. Rose swallowed thickly as she considered how last time her mum had only said infatuated. She'd been able to deny it easily then, as it had only been the previous night when the Doctor had said "I could save the world but lose you." and given her that burning gaze that Rose had even started to look more deeply at her feelings for the man.

But Rose couldn't deny it now, "How can you tell?"

"I'm your mother." Jackie told her as if that made it obvious, "I know you better than anyone. You've never looked at anyone the way you look at him."

Rose chewed her lip, and played with the ends of her hair as she considered that when her mum continued,

"What I don't get though," Jackie frowned, "You said you've only been gone in that box of his for a few days, and alright so it travels in time." She gave a strange look as she said this, "But you still look at him in such a way. Like he's your whole world. How does that happen after a few days?"

Rose's eyes glistened and she immediately took back every joking comment she'd ever made about her mum's intelligence. Jackie Tyler was a mother, and mother's are practically omnipotent when it comes to their children. A part of her desperately wanted to explain it all to her mum, to let Jackie hold her and soothe her as Rose told her what she was doing and how it would all end if she didn't fix it. But her mum was just coming to terms with the reality of other aliens. And clearly her daughter being in love with a time travelling alien. Best not to push it.

"What does he eat?" Jackie asked.

Rose looked at her, smiling, "Why, what you got planned?"

"I was going to do shepherds pie." Jackie said, "All of us. A proper sit down, 'cos I'm ready to listen. I wanna learn about you and him and that life you lead. Only, I don't know, he's an alien. For all I know, he eats grass and safety pins and things."

"He'll have Shepherd's pie." Rose shook her head, smiling, "Although, he is a bit funny about anything domestic."

Jackie frowned at this, but before she could say anything Rose's phone rang and she took it from her jacket pocket with an apologetic smile to her mum, who then rolled her eyes and left the room.

"Speak of the Timelord." She said, as she saw the Tardis calling, "Don't tell me you've gotten into trouble without me already?"

She could practically see his eyes rolling, "Right, I'll be a couple of hours, then we can go."

"Yeah, erm," Rose tugged on the ends of her hair with the hand not holding her phone, "My mum's cooking Shepherd's pie. She wants us to have a meal together."

"I don't do that." His tone brook no argument but Rose pressed on.

"She just wants to get to know you. Just to make her feel better about me going off throughout all of time and space with you."

"Tough, I've got better things to do."

Rose scowled at his stubbornness, "You just said you had a couple of hours."

"I've got to send out this dispersal. It cancels out the Slitheen's advert in case any bargain hunters turn up." Rose frowned at this blatant attempt to pull a fast one.

"And how long's that gonna take?"

He went silent and she fought the smile trying to creep up as she could practically hears the gears changing in his Timelord brain. He didn't like to outright lie to her over something so petty, she knew, but he was still trying to get out of it.

"It won't take long." He admitted, "But I've still got repairs to do on the Tardis."

"It's only Shepherd's pie." Rose tried to convince him, "It won't be the inquisition. At least, I don't think it will be."

"Well, you can stay there if you want, but right now there's this plasma storm brewing in the Horse-head Nebula." The Doctor told her, his voice taking on a stirring and enthralling tone, "Fires are burning ten million miles wide."

Rose bit her lip as she tried to ignore the tingles shooting throughout her body, "I could fly the Tardis right into the heart of it then ride the shock wave all the way out. Hurtle right across the sky and end up, anywhere. Your choice."

 _Damn him._ Did he use that voice on purpose or was he really oblivious to just how arousing he'd just made the idea of a plasma storm sound?

Knowing he wasn't going to budge as he ended the call, Rose groaned in frustration before hauling herself away from the couch. In her bedroom, she found her old duffel bag and piled into it all the clothes she was likely to wear, taking more care to include meaningful items like photos. She took her dad's wedding ring that her mum had given to her to keep from the jewellery box and glanced over to the bedside table where the mug of tea she'd spotted last night had been. It was gone, and Rose considered that her mum had likely been coming into her room for the past twelve months, sitting in here and worrying about her. Rose felt her stomach twist at the thought.

"Rose, I was thinking. I've got that bottle of Amaretto from New Year's Eve. Does he drink?" Jackie said as she came into Rose's room to find her packing, "I wasn't wondering if he drinks."

Glancing round, she offered her mum a smile, "Yeah, he does."

Rose sat on the bed, her rucksack all packed up and her heart clenched at the sad look on her mum's face.

"Don't go sweetheart." Jackie quietly begged, "Please don't go."

Her insides twisting with guilt, she held out her hand and gently pulled her mother down to sit next to her on the bed, twisting her body round to face her, "Mum, I know this isn't easy for you. But everyone leaves home in the end."

"Not to go gallivanting off with an alien." Jackie pointed out, "I haven't seen you for a year."

"That was an accident." Rose assured her, "One that will not be happening again, I promise."

"Well, what if you have another accident with his driving?"

"We won't." Rose insisted, "It was a one-off. I'll make him check to be sure of the date when we visit."

"So you will visit then?" Jackie asked her.

Rose smiled, "Of course we'll visit."

Jackie gave a small smile that told Rose she was starting to come around.

"I'm travelling with my best friend mum." she told Jackie, "We travel all around the universe, all over time and space, and I've honestly never been happier. You know what I was like before I went away. I didn't have a job, or A levels, and I didn't feel like I really had anything to look forward to. But now I'm doing something I love, and yes at times it can get dangerous, but being able to help people and seeing all the amazing things in the universe is so worth it."

Rose chewed her lip for a moment as she thought over her next words, "The Doctor is worth it."

Jackie considered her for a moment, "Are you and him-?"

Smiling at the familiar question that they would eventually start getting asked nearly every place they visited, Rose shook her head, "We're best friends. And I do love him."

Jackie only nodded, seeming to accept this, though Rose could tell she still looked somewhat troubled. She was selfish enough that it didn't enter her head for a moment to stay behind; she would never give up travelling with the Doctor for anything, but that didn't mean it didn't hit her hard to know her mum would be mostly alone over the next few years as Rose was away until the battle of Canary Wharf where she would be reunited with the alternate version of Pete Tyler. And then there was still that sadness which seemed wanting to cripple her heart whenever she looked at Jackie, sadness that Rose still didn't understand.

"Why aren't you taking more clothes?" Jackie's voice interrupted her thoughts.

Rose glances about at her duffel bag. She'd stuck the jewellery box on top; she'd had it since birth, a lovely chestnut coloured box with 3 drawers for her jewellery and that when the lid was lifted, had a ballerina figure that twisted to lilting music. Her mum used to play it for Rose as a kid when she was sad; it was a gift from her dad not long before he died, and Rose liked to think as a child that when she played the music, it meant her dad would be watching her. She'd grown out of that as a teenager, and in her haste to take off with the Doctor last time, she'd forgotten to bring her jewellery box.

Recalling her mum's question, she looked up, answering, "There's a wardrobe on the Tardis. It has outfits for anything and everything."

* * *

The Doctor stood leaning against the door of the Tardis. He'd given Mickey the disc with the virus to put online to wipe every mention of him, and Mickey had asked him how he could take Rose with him, knowing how dangerous he and his life were. He'd offered to take Mickey with them; the Doctor admitted they wouldn't have been able to save the world without him but he wasn't exactly unhappy when Mickey refused. He liked it just being him and Rose. And there was nothing else to wanting to keep his companion to himself, nothing at all.

He looked up when he heard Jackie's voice pestering Rose if she'd packed enough. The Doctor fought to roll his eyes at the woman's nagging, but then, at least she wasn't trying to convince Rose to stay, like he'd feared.

"And you've got your toothbrush?" Jackie asked, "Oh, what about that red blouse? The nice one in case you end up anywhere posh?"

"Yeah mum," Rose laughed, "Everything I need's here."

"Got enough stuff?" The Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow at the size of his companion's duffel bag. It was nearly the size of her, though when she hoisted it into his arms, he noted that it was lighter than he'd expected.

"Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment." Rose told him, smiling, "Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me. Ha!" She grinned, her tongue poking out and he gave a flashing grin back before entering the Tardis to dump her bag on the jumpseat, enjoying the glee that spread through his body at her words.

Outside the Tardis, Rose turned to face Mickey and her mum, smiling brightly at them both.

"You, take care." she told Mickey, hugging him, "Be good to Trish, and keep out of trouble."

She hugged her mum tightly for a few moments before saying, "I'll try convincing the Doctor to come back for visits so you see me once a week, okay?"

Her mum nodded, holding her tighter for a few more moments before letting her go. Rose shot them both a grin as she said her goodbyes, and turned to walk into the Tardis, closing the door behind her. She beamed, a spring in her step as she made her way up to the Time rotor where the Doctor glanced up, grinned widely at her then set the de-materialisation sequence.

* * *

Jackie watched as the blue box flickered out of view, and Rose and the Doctor with it and stood for a few moments with Mickey before heading back to the flat. Her daughter was off on all kinds of adventures and while it cut Jackie to the bone with fear over the danger she'd be in, and she still wasn't completely certain on how much she could trust the Doctor, the smile of happiness on Rose's face made it worth it to let her go. It wasn't easy, but Jackie had always wanted to see her daughter that happy. Though, looking into her eyes had nearly shaken Jackie off balance. It felt shameful to admit that about her own daughter, but Jackie had to keep looking away; those eyes had unsettled her, they were too old for such a young face and Rose's eyes hadn't held that when Jackie last saw her, a year ago even though Rose insisted it was only a few days by them.

She'd just put the kettle on, planning to settle in to try and find something good on the telly, when the thought crossed her mind and she tried in vain to hold back her laughter.

Her daughter was in love with an alien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor who or any of its characters.


	11. UPDATE

**Okay so this is a bit awkward. I’m glad I don’t have to see the people who asked me to update and sent me PMs face to face as I’d probably feel worse. First off, I am seriously sorry and realise this is way overdue! I had every intention of continuing with my story but well life got in the way and some bad stuff happened and I haven’t written anything in a long time as a result.**

**I don’t wish to go into details but as writing this story and finishing it means so much to me I am setting myself a goal to have the current chapters edited and begin publishing new ones before the end of this year. That isn’t a guarantee, I have just started full-time work (amazing since 6 months ago I could barely leave the house) and we are coming up to December which last year proved was very difficult for me. However, I fully intend to get this story finished. It’s a personal project for me now. Might seem silly to some, but it’s important to me.**

**I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. I checked the stats and it has over 12000 views which is amazing to me. I hope no one was too disappointed that I stopped updating. I assure you I did not get bored, I just kind of lost my mojo for a while. Hope you can forgive me.**

**X**

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite from S1, more dramatic changes will be made as the story progresses though I am trying to keep from it being exactly like the script where possible. The 10th Doctor mentioned so I've added him as a character, but I plan to continue this into Eleven's era and will add him and others as characters when applicable. Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who or any of it's characters.  
> I also post on FF.net as BadStormOncomingWolf


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